A 32-year-old Seattle man faces federal charges after he allegedly brandished a firearm in a carjacking near Lumen Field and abandoned the vehicle near a middle school in Auburn.

The case arrives as part of an effort on behalf of a task force to review carjacking incidents for potential prosecution at the federal level.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Louis Montel De’Andre Dowers appeared in the U.S. District Court of Seattle on Sept. 17 following his indictment for carjacking and using a firearm in a crime of violence.

The King County Sheriff’s Office arrested Dowers on June 9 after he carjacked a BMW outside a business on Occidental Avenue South in the Pioneer Square Neighborhood and abandoned the “luxury sedan” near a middle school in Auburn.

According to the justice department, Dowers approached a man waiting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle and pulled out a firearm, ordering him out of the vehicle.

Dowers “nearly hit” the wife of the man as she left the store prior to racing away, according to the justice department.

Following the vehicle’s abandonment in Auburn, a King County Sheriff’s Office deputy located Dowers, working with a suspect description, walking in the area. A search of Dowers found a semi-automatic firearm in his possession.

According to the justice department, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg will prosecute the case. Greenberg leads the Western District of Washington Carjacking Task Force.

“The Carjacking Task Force, made up of federal agents, Seattle and Kent police officers, and state and federal prosecutors, are diligently reviewing carjacking incidents for those appropriate for federal prosecution,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman in a news release. “Here, where a firearm was pointed at the driver, and the car commandeered and stolen, the federal penalties are significant and appropriate for the conduct that put lives at risk.”

The Seattle Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives continue investigation into the case.