Carjacker takes vehicle with three kids inside

Published August 3, 2010 4:00am ET



A Springfield man was arrested after he stole a Nissan with three 5-year-old children in the back seat, Fairfax County police said.

The incident happened around 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Shoppers Food Warehouse in Chantilly. A woman was waiting in the Nissan with the children when a man approached her, struck her and pulled her from the vehicle. The man hopped in and drove off with the children still inside. At the parking lot exit, he ordered the children to get out, and they did.

The man drove off at a high speed, but lost control of the vehicle, which jumped the curb and stopped on the grass.

Police arrested and charged Charles W. Lawrence, 28, with carjacking, three counts of abduction and speeding to elude.

– Scott McCabe