Mount Pleasant, New York – A road rage incident involving a firearm prompted a multi-agency investigation on the Taconic State Parkway.
According to New York State Police, troopers at the Hawthorne barracks received a walk-in complaint Tuesday regarding a menacing incident that occurred on the southbound Taconic State Parkway near Exit 3 in the Town of Mount Pleasant.
Investigators said a school bus driver reported that while operating the bus with a monitor and three special-needs children onboard, another motorist allegedly pointed a handgun at him during a road rage encounter.
Later that evening, the suspect vehicle was located traveling northbound on the Taconic State Parkway. Members of State Police Hawthorne and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, assisted by the Troop K Community Stabilization Unit assigned to the District Attorney’s Safer Highway (DASH) initiative, conducted a traffic stop.
The driver was identified as Michael L. Alarcon, 19, of Mahopac. Police said Alarcon was allegedly operating the vehicle with a suspended New York State driver’s license. A subsequent inventory of the vehicle resulted in the recovery of a loaded handgun, according to State Police.
Alarcon was taken into custody and transported to State Police Hawthorne for processing. He was charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class C felony, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, both class D felonies, Menacing in the Second Degree, a class A misdemeanor, three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree.
He is currently awaiting arraignment in Mount Pleasant Town Court.
State Police credited the Westchester County Real Time Crime (RTC) Center for its assistance in locating the suspect vehicle.
The incident may be of particular concern to commuters and school transportation workers who regularly travel the Taconic State Parkway.
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