MOUNT PLEASANT, NY – A 19-year-old Mahopac man was arrested after state police say he pointed a handgun at a school bus carrying special-needs children during a road rage incident on the Taconic State Parkway.
New York State Police at Hawthorne said they received a walk-in complaint on February 4 from a school bus driver who reported the incident occurred on the southbound Taconic State Parkway near Exit 3 in the Town of Mount Pleasant. The bus was occupied by a monitor and three special-needs children at the time.
According to investigators, the bus driver told troopers another motorist became involved in a road rage confrontation and pointed a handgun toward the driver while both vehicles were in motion.
Following an investigation, state police located the suspect vehicle later that evening traveling northbound on the Taconic State Parkway. Troopers from State Police Hawthorne and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, assisted by the Troop K Community Stabilization Unit as part of the District Attorney’s Safer Highway initiative, conducted a traffic stop.
The driver was identified as Michael L. Alarcon, 19, of Mahopac. Police said Alarcon was operating the vehicle with a suspended New York driver’s license. An inventory search of the vehicle resulted in the recovery of a loaded handgun.
Alarcon was taken into custody and charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon for an ammunition feeding device, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon defaced for concealment, second-degree menacing, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He is awaiting arraignment in the Town of Mount Pleasant Court.
- Incident reported near Exit 3 on the Taconic State Parkway
- School bus was carrying three special-needs children
- Loaded handgun recovered during traffic stop
State police credited the Westchester County Real Time Crime Center for assisting in locating the suspect vehicle.
