Brazilian National Living In Bridgeport Charged With Firearm Offense: U.S. Attorney

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Federal authorities have charged a 33-year-old Brazilian national with illegally possessing a firearm after a domestic violence incident late last year, U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan announced.

Joao Victor Borges de Queiroz, who most recently lived in Bridgeport, was charged by criminal complaint with possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

Sullivan, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol, and Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter said the charge stems from a Dec. 23, 2025, incident in which a woman reported she was assaulted while driving in Bridgeport.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the victim told police that Borges de Queiroz attacked her in her car and fired a handgun during the altercation. Investigators said the woman managed to take the gun from him and throw it out of the vehicle before jumping from the moving car near Orange Street and Central Avenue. Borges de Queiroz then pursued her and continued the assault on the ground until bystanders intervened, police said.

Responding officers later recovered a black Taurus 9mm Model G2C handgun on Orange Street. Surveillance video reviewed by investigators corroborated key aspects of the incident, according to authorities.

State prosecutors subsequently obtained an arrest warrant charging Borges de Queiroz with attempted murder, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, and second-degree stalking. Those charges are being handled separately by the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Fairfield.

Federal authorities said Borges de Queiroz was detained the following day, Dec. 24, 2025, at the Highgate Springs, Vermont, port of entry after attempting to enter Canada. Canadian officials denied his entry, and when he tried to return to the United States, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained him after discovering an "armed and dangerous" alert.

Immigration records show Borges de Queiroz was first encountered by CBP in Arizona in May 2023 and was determined at that time to lack lawful immigration status. Records also indicate he missed an immigration court hearing in April 2025 and has a final hearing scheduled for Nov. 30, 2026.
Borges de Queiroz appeared last week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford. The federal firearms charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Sullivan emphasized that the complaint is only an accusation and that Borges de Queiroz is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

The federal case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Bridgeport Police Department, with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Cummings is prosecuting the case.