A 21-year-old New Bedford man will spend the next four to five years in state prison after security cameras caught him tossing a loaded, defaced handgun near a parked car during a foot chase with police. Victor Rodrigues Monteiro was sentenced in Fall River Superior Court after pleading guilty to firearms charges stemming from a November 2025 arrest, and prosecutors say the footage was central to nailing down the conviction.
According to Boston 25 News, New Bedford police received information about Monteiro on November 13, 2025, and officers who encountered him described him as acting suspiciously and displaying characteristics of an armed individual. When officers approached, Monteiro ran, and police caught him after a brief foot chase. A security camera at a residence on South Second Street captured him fleeing, and the footage showed a visible change in light near a vehicle's tire parked in front of 507 South Second Street, along with an audible metallic sound, moments prosecutors say marked the instant he ditched the gun.
Police searching the area found a black firearm on the ground near the front left tire of that vehicle. It was identified as a Lorcin Model L380 pistol with a defaced serial number, loaded with one round in the chamber and four additional .380 rounds in the magazine. Monteiro told police, “It's over there, down the street by the house, I left it there,” according to the outlet's reporting.
A Well-Documented History of Guns
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said Monteiro had previously been involved in a shooting and had earlier been convicted as a youthful offender for possessing firearms. Court records reviewed by the Fall River Reporter show Monteiro had prior adult convictions from November 2023 for carrying a firearm without a license and two counts of assault and battery with a firearm. Prosecutors highlighted that pattern of repeated violent offenses in court ahead of sentencing.
That history stretches back further still. Per the same outlet's earlier reporting on the case, when Monteiro was 18, New Bedford police detectives executed a search warrant at a South End residence on Washington Street and arrested him after finding a Glock 19 9mm handgun with a partially defaced serial number, loaded with 13 rounds, along with 169 grams of marijuana. Quinn said security-camera images were important to obtaining this latest conviction, and he said Monteiro continues to be a danger to the community.
Charges Reduced Through Plea Deal
Prosecutors originally charged Monteiro with multiple offenses, including carrying a loaded firearm with two prior violent or drug offenses and possessing a defaced firearm, charges that carried much heavier potential prison exposure. His guilty plea ultimately resolved the case down to two counts: carrying a firearm without a license and possessing ammunition without an FID card, the Fall River Reporter's coverage of the sentencing notes.
Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 269, Section 10(a), carrying a firearm outside one's home or business without a valid License to Carry triggers a mandatory minimum of 18 months in jail, with potential state prison terms ranging from 2.5 to 5 years, according to Aprodu Law. Separately, under Chapter 269, Section 11C, possessing or receiving a firearm with a defaced or obliterated serial number is its own offense, punishable by up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, per the Law Offices of Lefteris K. Travayiakis, which notes that defacing serial numbers is commonly used to prevent firearm tracing. Monteiro was ultimately sentenced to 4 to 5 years in state prison followed by two years of supervised probation, with credit for 291 days already served since his arrest.
The Gun's Own Troubled History
The Lorcin Model L380 recovered near the tire has a history of its own. Lorcin Engineering, a now-defunct California-based manufacturer, was part of a group of gunmakers known as the “Ring of Fire” companies, producing low-cost handguns often nicknamed “Saturday Night Specials” before the company filed for bankruptcy in the late 1990s amid widespread liability lawsuits, according to Pew Pew Tactical. Lorcin pistols were among the most frequently traced crime weapons by federal authorities during that era.
Monteiro's November 2025 arrest was not an isolated event for New Bedford police. It came during a two-day surge that yielded three separate illegal firearm arrests across the city that month, including a 19-year-old caught with a concealed high-capacity handgun in a public park, according to 1420 WBSM. Monteiro reportedly lived on nearby Rodney Street at the time of the arrest.
A Prosecutor's Long-Running Focus
Quinn, who has served as Bristol County's district attorney since 2015, has consistently prioritized illegal gun prosecutions and expanded the use of dangerousness hearings to keep repeat violent offenders detained ahead of trial. His office's reliance on video surveillance evidence, on display again in the Monteiro case, has become something of a signature strategy in Bristol County Superior Court prosecutions.
Hoodline has previously reported on other New Bedford firearm cases, including a major garage arsenal raid and a case involving a suspect with dozens of prior charges sentenced on gun and cocaine counts. Whether federal authorities separately reviewed Monteiro's case given the defaced serial number on the Lorcin pistol, and how his earlier youthful-offender record shaped the final plea agreement, remain open questions not addressed in available court records.
