MOUNT PLEASANT – A 19-year-old Mahopac man was arrested by the State Police on Wednesday for pointing a gun at a school bus driver with special needs children aboard on the Taconic State Parkway southbound near Exit 3 in the Town of Mount Pleasant.
Michael L. Alarcon was arrested on three charges of criminal possession of a weapon and menacing.
State Police at Hawthorne received a walk-in complaint regarding a menacing incident involving a firearm The bus driver told troopers that while operating a school bus occupied by a bus monitor and three special-needs children, he was the victim of a road rage incident involving the suspect. During the incident, Alarcon allegedly pointed a handgun at the bus driver.
Following an investigation, the suspect vehicle was located later that evening traveling northbound on the Taconic State Parkway. Members of State Police Hawthorne and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), assisted by the Troop K Community Stabilization Unit while assigned to the District Attorney’s Safer Highway (DASH) initiative, conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle.
A search of Alarcon’s vehicle resulted in the recovery of a loaded handgun. He pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges and did not enter a plea as to the felony charges, as the case was arraigned in local court. Justice Mark Rubeo, of Mount Pleasant Justice Court, set bail at $45,000 cash/$75,000 bond/$175,000 partially secured bond.
Alarcon is due back in court on Feb. 19.
The State Police recognized the Westchester County Real Time Crime (RTC) Center, whose assistance played a key role in the successful location of the suspect’s vehicle.
“Any parent who puts their child on a school bus in the morning should not have to hold their breath until they return home,” Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace said. “What happened on the Taconic Wednesday morning, as alleged, could have easily become every parent’s worst nightmare. Loaded guns and uncontrolled road rage have absolutely no place on our public highways, let alone near school buses carrying our most precious resource.,”
“Due in large part to the composure of the bus driver, these young students thankfully made it out physically unharmed,” Cacace said. “I commend him for his quick thinking in navigating these students to safety.”
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