ALTUS - A Mangum man who was staying in Altus last night awoke this morning to news that the vehicle he just purchased Friday had been stolen and was found abandoned on top of a fire hydrant at West Broadway and Ethel Street.

Michael Paul Ybarra was at the scene this morning as a tow truck was loading up his 2002 Trail Blazer that still had the paper tag in the back window that ironically said “Drive Smart.”

Ybarra said his friend Juan Frisias drove the vehicle to Stripes at 421 N. Main this morning, but called him soon after saying the vehicle had been stolen.

“I was just going in for some cigarettes and left the keys in the car,” said Frisias. “But when I came out, it was gone.”

Officer Grady Vann of the Altus Police Department found the vehicle abandoned at the corner of West Broadway and Ethel. It looked as if the driver had made a wide turn from Broadway south onto Ethel and went up over the curb and onto a fire hydrant, and then couldn't get it off, eventually abandoning the stolen vehicle that now had thousands of dollars in damages.

City crews were called to the scene to inspect the hydrant.