Teen Accused Of Pointing LASER-Sighted Gun At Bus With Scarsdale Special-Needs Students On Board Gets Bail

MOUNT PLEASANT, NY — A teen driver with a suspended license used a deadly weapon to try to teach a school bus driver a lesson about courteous driving, according to cops.

Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace said the Mahopac teen was arraigned on multiple felonies and other charges Thursday morning after investigators say he pointed a loaded gun at a school bus carrying special-needs students as part of the disturbing road rage incident.

On Wednesday, around 8:30 a.m., a school bus driver operating a yellow school bus was headed south on the Taconic State Parkway, carrying a bus monitor and three students whom he had picked up in the Peekskill area, according to the bus driver's supporting deposition that was filed with the Mount Pleasant Justice Court.

The three students, two three-year-olds and one four-year-old, have special needs and were being transported to a school in Scarsdale.

"Any parent who puts their child on a school bus in the morning should not have to hold their breath until they return home," 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."

The District Attorney praised the bus driver who helped keep the disturbing situation from becoming a tragedy.

"Due in large part to the composure of the bus driver, these young students thankfully made it out physically unharmed," she said. "I commend him for his quick thinking in navigating these students to safety. I am also grateful to New York State Police, Troop K for apprehending the defendant in conjunction with our D.A.S.H. partners. Road rage is a menace to public safety, and my office will treat it accordingly.”

After the school bus driver made a lane change from the left to the center lane, a 2025 Toyota Corolla pulled up alongside the bus in the left lane, the deposition alleges. The driver of the Toyota is then accused of taking a handgun out of his waistband and pointing it at the bus driver. The teen also turned on a green laser and pointed it at the bus driver, according to the deposition.

The bus driver quickly headed for the nearest exit on the Taconic as the Toyota drove away.

The suspect vehicle was located later that evening traveling north 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, stopped the vehicle.

The driver was identified as 19-year-old Michael L. Alarcon, of Mahopac, who was driving with a suspended New York State driver's license, according to NYSP.

Troopers recovered a loaded Walther P22 .22 caliber handgun with a large-capacity magazine. There was a loaded round in the chamber and multiple rounds of ammunition in the magazine, according to police.

Alarcon was taken into custody and taken to State Police Hawthorne for processing and charged with a slew of felonies. Charges included criminal possession of a loaded firearm, criminal possession of a an ammunition feeding device, criminal possession of a weapon defaced for concealment. He was also charged with the misdemeanors of menacing with a weapon, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, class and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

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.

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