On any given day, you should be able to enjoy your classic hot rod with little worry, but as one 79-year-old gentleman of Prineville, Oregon found out over the weekend, not everyone has the same respect and consideration for your private possessions as one might hope, allowing you to do so. That’s because after taking his 1930 Ford Model A coupe to church to show it off, the unnamed gentleman found his vehicle stolen by a male described as a transient, according to Fox 12 Oregon. That wasn’t even the worst part.
According to local sheriff’s deputies, the 79-year-old man had taken his Model A to church when he decided to leave it for a bit so that he could get some lunch. When he returned to where he had left his beloved classic, it was nowhere to be found.
Unfortunately, the Model A had been stolen and crashed into the Crooked River just south of Prineville. The sheriff’s department arrested 34-year-old Erik Blake Halpin on suspicion of drunk driving and unauthorized use of the classic Ford after swimming to shore and being checked out at a hospital in Bend.
When crashed into the river, the Model A ended up sustaining what appears to be some pretty good damage to the front end before being submerged up to its fender wells.
An estimate to fix the damages hasn’t been released just yet.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the damages aren’t too awful and that the 79-year-old will be able to get his prized Ford back on the road in the near future, although maybe with an alarm this time around.