A man driving a blue car who allegedly pointed a ghost gun at a woman and her three minor children after cutting them off on Farrington Highway near Ko Olina will remain in federal custody before his detention hearing.

Seth Zachary Owens, 22, made his initial appearance Tuesday after he was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations agents following an incident April 9.

At about 5:05 p.m. that day, the woman, referred to in federal court documents as “Witness 1,” and her children, ages 13, 7, and 4, looked in her rearview mirror and saw a blue vehicle cut her off under the overpass near Ko Olina, according to an affidavit from an HSI agent.

Shortly after, the woman and the car that cut her off met up by the power plant.

The woman pulled in front of the blue car because her son, “Witness 2,” saw the driver point a gun toward them. The two cars met up again on Pohakunui Street, and the woman allegedly saw the driver, who was wearing a red shirt and holding a black-and-silver handgun, “point a gun towards her and laugh.”

The woman called 911, and the blue car continued to follow her until Honolulu police responded and pulled over the blue car.

At about 5:10 p.m. an HPD sergeant was driving on Farrington Highway, near Princess Kahanu Avenue, and saw the blue car. The sergeant followed the car before pulling it over at Kaukama Road and Farrington Highway.

The sergeant saw four people in the car and watched as the driver switched seats with the person in the front passenger seat.

When the sergeant pulled Owens and the others out of the car, he saw a lone round of 9-mm ammunition on the driver’s seat of the car.

At 5:28 p.m. a field show-up was conducted with Owens and the other three passengers in the car pulled over by police.

Two minutes later, at 5:30 p.m., the woman and one of her children positively identified Owens, from about 5 feet away “with a clear and unobstructed view,” as the same man who brandished a firearm and pointed it at the women and her three children, according to the affidavit filed May 12 with the federal criminal complaint.

The blue car was towed to HPD’s Alapai Street headquarters where detectives executed a search warrant on the vehicle. Detectives recovered a black-and-green, privately manufactured “ghost gun” from the front passenger floorboard.

The gun had one black magazine loaded with 13 rounds of 9 mm ammunition. HPD investigators also recovered the round of 9 mm caliber ammunition from the driver’s seat.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Albanese, who is prosecuting the case for the government, declined comment, and Owen’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Maximilian J. Mizono, did not immediately reply to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for comment.

Owens’ detention hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom A. Trader. A preliminary hearing in Owens’ case is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. May 30 in Trader’s court.