A man crashed a compact car into the interisland baggage claim area of Honolulu International Airport yesterday and drove inside the building for about 100 yards before security personnel arrested him.

No one was hurt in the 4:55 p.m. incident — only about 20 people were inside at the time — and flight operations were not affected, said Scott Ishikawa, state Department of Transportation spokesman.

The area where the 1997 Dodge Neon entered the building was closed for about 20 minutes.

State sheriffs arrested Michael Abella, 26, for investigation of motor vehicle collision and outstanding traffic tickets. Police ruled out alcohol as a factor, but planned to test the man for drug use, Ishikawa said.

It was reminiscent of a February 2004 incident in which a man drove a sport utility vehicle into a ticket lobby at Kahului Airport on Maui and set the SUV on fire.

Debbie Long, a Hawaiian Airlines baggage handler, last night said she heard a loud crash and assumed it was from something that happened outside. Instead, the next thing she saw was a black compact car driving around inside the baggage claim area.

"The guy got out and looked around and then got back into his car," Long said. "He drove around the (flight information) kiosk and drove down to the Aloha baggage area.

"It was a little scary. We didn't know what he would do."

Eventually, the man stopped the car and got out. He was seen talking with state sheriff's deputies, but as they tried to take him outside, he made a threatening move toward the officers and tried to run away, Ishikawa said.

The car had been seen in the middle lane of the airport roadway outside the interisland terminal before it made a hard right into the airport building, Ishikawa said.

Initial reports said the man was shouting something about his family being kidnapped, Ishikawa said, but no details were available.

Airport officials are considering placing planter boxes in strategic locations outside the baggage terminal to prevent something like this from happening again, Ishikawa said.

"We're pretty satisfied with the response, but it's possible we may need to put temporary obstructions, like a planter box in front of these handicap ramps (like the one the man drove up)," Ishikawa said.

The glass doors were knocked askew but did not shatter. One black skid mark was on the polished floor inside the terminal. State workers removed the twisted metal frame around the glass doors and placed yellow caution tape across the door.

It was the third dramatic security breach at a Hawai'i airport in the past two years. In the Maui incident, Kahului Airport was closed for a day because of the SUV fire in the open-air ticket lobby. Paul S. Blatchley, 52, of Maui was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway also ordered Blatchley to pay $5,454 for damage to the airport.

His lawyer, Jane Kimmel, said Blatchley intended to kill himself and did not intend to harm anyone else.

In 2003 a Kaua'i man threatened an airport security officer and fired two gunshots at the Lihu'e Airport in the Hawaiian Airlines baggage area. Lloyd Albino, 24, of Kapa'a, was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.