A Durango man has been arrested on suspicion of stealing a mail carrier’s van and driving it 21 miles to Vallecito Reservoir.

A U.S. Postal Service employee told police he left his keys in the van while delivering mail about 1 p.m. Saturday in the 300 block of East Fourth Avenue in South Durango. He returned to find the white 2020 Chrysler van missing from the intersection where it was parked, said Cmdr. Ray Shupe, spokesman with the Durango Police Department.

Police put out an attempt to locate for the vehicle, meaning dispatchers notified area law enforcement of the missing vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit. About an hour later, a deputy with the Bayfield Marshal’s Office found the van near Vallecito, Shupe said.

The deputy also contacted John Brandon-Teigue Hannon, 39, who was nearby, Shupe said. Hannon admitted to taking the van, according to Shupe and the affidavit.

Hannon was arrested on suspicion of felony motor vehicle theft.

Shupe said it is unknown why Hannon took the van.

“We have no idea,” he said.

Hannon lives in the area where the van was stolen.

The van was a rental and therefore did not have the typical markings of a U.S. Postal Service vehicle, Shupe said. He was unsure if it had any nontraditional marking identifying it as a U.S. Postal Service vehicle.

Hannon was being held Thursday on $10,000 bail at the La Plata County Jail.

shane@durangoherald.com