‘I see someone just jump into my car’: Family recounts terrifying airport carjacking

News admin July 10, 2026 0 Comments

‘I see someone just jump into my car’: Family recounts terrifying airport carjacking

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Lawrence Ching was doing what thousands of people do every day at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

Ching was at Terminal 1 Wednesday evening to pick up his wife. He’d gotten her luggage and was taking it to their car when the unthinkable happened.

“At least once a week, I travel to Hilo,” said Rose Ching. “It’s normal, routine, for my husband to pick me up at the airport.”

At around 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, that’s what they were doing next to emergency column 15 outside the baggage claim.

“We weren’t even that far from the vehicle. Literally feet away, like grab off the curb, the luggage, turn around and put it in the car,” said Lawrence Ching.

This time, what had been a routine curbside pickup changed in a split second.

“I hear the (car) door open, which was a little bit odd because I shut my driver’s door,” said Lawrence Ching. “I turn real quick and I see someone just jump into my car. I dropped what I was doing and ran as quick as possible to stop it.”

That’s because there was another family member still in the car.

“Usually my wife goes on days that line up with our daughter’s hula practice, so our daughter was in the car,” said Lawrence Ching.

“I was just worried about my daughter and I was fearing for her life,” said Rose Ching. “I didn’t know what was going to happen to her an I was just worried about her safety.”

The state Department of Law Enforcement said Garrett Spencer, 25, took the vehicle with the young teenage girl in the back passenger side seat and tried to make a getaway through the congested terminal area, with Lawrence Ching in pursuit.

Investigators said Spencer released the girl, unhurt, a short distance away.

“Seeing that door fly open and her getting out, exiting the vehicle — it was definitely a relief,” said Lawrence Ching.

The DLE said Spencer then fled the airport in the vehicle, turning onto Ala Auana Street and then right onto Ala Onaona toward the H-1 Freeway.

He then headed westbound and took the exit to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, where he was stopped at the main gate to Hickam Field by U.S. Department of Defense Police and U.S. Air Force Security Forces.

Spencer was detained by military authorities and then arrested by state Sheriff’s Deputies without incident.

Spencer faces charges of first-degree theft, first-degree unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and kidnapping. H was also cited for criminal trespass by DOD police officers at the Hickam gate.

Lawrence and Rose Ching are asking anyone who may have video of the incident to call police or the DLE.

They also said the incident has taught them a lesson that they wanted to share with others.

“Whether you’re just filling up gas, checking something in your trunk or anything, turn off your car, put the keys in the pocket and lock it,” said Lawrence Ching.