A St. Louis man stands charged with multiple felonies following an early Sunday morning incident involving a loaded firearm in downtown Columbia.

Police said a silver 2011 Hyundai Sonata driven by Hussein Jasim Abdul Al Khazaali, 28, of St. Louis, was stopped in the roadway in the 600 block of North Main Street near Tiny’s Pub & Grill at about midnight for unknown reasons when a man who noticed the vehicle told Al Khazaali to continue driving.

Al Khazaali allegedly pulled out a pistol, racking the slide, and pointed it at the man, police said, after which the man took off and Al Khazaali continued driving south on Main Street.

A responding police officer located the suspect vehicle parked near Ace Hardware, 229 N. Main Street, with Al Khazaali standing outside and the hood lifted up. When the officer approached the vehicle, he observed a loaded 9 mm Ruger handgun on the front passenger seat.

Despite Al Khazaali being uncooperative with police, he was taken into custody a short time later. He was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated assault.