February 5, 2026

Mahopac man arrested after pointing handgun at school bus driver

Press Release

DASHGUN1
On February 4, 2026, New York State Police at Hawthorne received a walk-in complaint regarding a menacing incident involving a firearm that occurred on the Taconic State Parkway southbound near Exit 3 in the Town of Mount Pleasant.

The complainant reported 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 operator of another vehicle. During the incident, the operator of the vehicle 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.

The operator was identified as Michael L. Alarcon, 19, of Mahopac, New York, who was found to be operating with a suspended New York State driver’s license. A subsequent inventory of the vehicle resulted in the recovery of a loaded handgun.

Alarcon was taken into custody and transported to State Police Hawthorne for processing and charged with the following:

  • Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2nd (loaded firearm), a class C felony
  • Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd (ammunition feeding device), a class D felony
  • Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd (defaced for concealment), a class D felony
  • Menacing 2nd (weapon), a class A misdemeanor
  • Three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, class A misdemeanors
  • Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle 3rd, an unclassified misdemeanor

Alarcon is currently awaiting arraignment before the Town of Mount Pleasant Court.

New York State Police would like to recognize the Westchester County Real Time Crime (RTC) Center, whose critical assistance played a key role in the successful location of the suspect vehicle.