ROCKLAND — A stolen dirt bike has been recovered in a traffic. But what should have been a brief traffic stop in Rockland turned into a prolonged, multi-agency search for one of the passengers. 

Rockland Chief Deputy Alex Gaylor happened to be driving along Old County Road, in Rockland, at approximately 1:15 p.m., when he spotted a 2021 Yamaha YZ250FX in the bed of a pickup truck a few cars ahead of him on Monday afternoon, June 3, 2024. A background check confirmed that the Yamaha had been stolen sometime between Friday and Saturday, May 31 - June 1, from a residence on Broadway, near Rankin Street.

Whether the owner of the truck, and a second passenger face charges is still to be determined, according to Gaylor, but it was the actions of a third occupant that prompted a response by area law enforcement. Upon stopping the truck, in front of 343 Old County Road, Michael MacCoole, 35, took off on foot, running down Rankin. He was last believed to be hiding in the woods off of Southern Drive, and because he fled, he became the source of a search within the woods and fields between Rankin and Talbot streets in Rockland.

More units joined the search from the Rockland Police Dept., the Knox County Sheriff’s Dept., the Rockland K9 team, and the drone and pilots associated with the Fire Department. The K9 team traipsed through the underbrush and fields; law enforcement maintained perimeters along Old County, Rankin, and Talbot; and the drone hovered overhead. However, the drone’s batteries exhausted the charge level on multiple occasions, requiring several breaks in the air perspective. 

Similar law enforcement searches in the past have proven successful. The June 3 individual managed to elude detection, and by 3:30 p.m., the last municipal units had returned to other business. 

Shortly after 3 p.m., a dirt bike was reported stolen from a home on the other side of the city.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com