Alexander Borja, left, and Brian Lee, 2nd right, are escorted by a Corrections officer at the courthouse on Monday morning. Also in photo is Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds, right.
FOLLOWING a traffic stop, Alexander Palacios Borja Jr. threw a black bag containing a handgun and ammunition out of the passenger-side window, police said.
Borja, 32, was charged with violations of firearms regulations, among them: storage of firearms, lawful transportation of firearms, persons permitted to possess ammunition, removal of firearm serial numbers, and firearm owner’s identification card requirement exceptions.
On Monday, the defendant appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho who imposed a $25,000 cash bail on Borja.
At the hearing, Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the government. Because there is a conflict with the Public Defender’s Office in representing Borja, the clerk of court will appoint a counsel to represent him.
Borja was remanded to the custody of the Department of Correction and was ordered to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 27, at 10 a.m., and for an arraignment on Jan. 8 at 9 a.m.
The complaint
According to the complaint, on Dec. 14, a police officer conducted a violator stop on a green Hyundai Tucson operated by the defendant. The officer said there were no lights at the vehicle’s rear license plate.
During the traffic stop, another police officer saw a black bag fly out of the passenger window and land on the ground.
When asked about the black bag, Borja initially denied owning it. “I don’t know who owns the bag,” Borja said. Upon opening the bag, the police officer found a Glock 19 with a magazine clip.
Borja then said, “If I tell you the truth, can you let me go?”
He admitted to the police that he grabbed the black bag from the back seat and threw the bag out of the passenger window because “he was scared of being in possession of a firearm.”
He said the Glock 19 inside the black bag belonged to his god brother, who told him to hold it for him until the god brother got out of jail.
Police also impounded the vehicle Borja was driving.
