New Bedford man facing 17 gun charges arraigned, released, in Fall River Superior Court after incident at motel

A local man was arraigned Monday morning in Fall River Superior Court after previously being arrested on over a dozen gun charges.

According to police, on June 29th, at approximately 9:30 a.m., Dartmouth Police responded to a domestic disturbance at the Dartmouth Motor Inn (DMI) located at 571 State Road in Dartmouth.

Upon arrival, officers detained Nathan Faria, a 34-year-old man from New Bedford, in connection with the disturbance. Further investigation revealed his involvement in a prior domestic violence incident in New Bedford, leading to his custody. Subsequently, Dartmouth Police received credible information indicating that Faria had multiple firearms and ammunition in his 2023 Toyota Tundra pickup truck.

Detective Derek Sousa, assigned to the Dartmouth Police Department’s Special Operations Division, obtained a search warrant for Faria’s vehicle. The search uncovered a Sig Sauer M400 AR-15 assault rifle, a VR80 12-gauge shotgun, six fully loaded 30-round AR-15 magazines, five empty 30-round AR-15 magazines, four 10-round 12-gauge shotgun magazines, two 5-round 12-gauge shotgun magazines, a silencer, and thousands of rounds of assorted .556 caliber, 12-gauge, 9mm, and .45 caliber ammunition.

Police say that Faria does not hold a valid firearms license in Massachusetts or any other state.

Faria faces charges from the New Bedford Police Department related to the domestic violence incident and the following charges from Dartmouth Police:

• Two counts of carrying a firearm without a license
• Possessing a silencer
• Possessing ammunition without an FID card
• 15 counts of possessing a large-capacity feeding device
• Violating an abuse prevention order

According to court records, Faria was indicted in Fall River Superior Court on August 21st and was arraigned this morning where he pled not guilty and was released with a GPS device and a dangerousness hearing scheduled for October 6th.