Hernando Garcia-Morales, a 40-year-old Mexican national with an extensive criminal record, has been apprehended for allegedly throwing a rock the size of a baseball from an overpass onto a school bus on the New Jersey Turnpike in Teaneck.
The incident resulted in an 8-year-old girl from Yeshivat Noam suffering a fractured skull, necessitating emergency surgery.
The students were returning from a field trip when the rock shattered a bus window and struck the girl, causing serious injuries.
According to the New York Post, “Garcia-Morales told cops he believed the bus ‘was the devil or his enemy’ when he was arrested two days after the attack at a homeless encampment in Palisades Park, NJ.”
It remains unclear when Garcia-Morales entered the United States, but he has a criminal history spanning two decades in New Jersey.
In 2006, he was arrested for weapon possession and theft, as reported by DHS. He faced legal issues twice in 2023, though he was not charged in the sanctuary state.
On July 23, 2023, Garcia-Morales was arrested for burglary after allegedly entering a building in Hackensack, NJ, but those charges were not pursued. The following day, he was again arrested in Hackensack, charged with providing false information and attempted burglary, but those charges were downgraded by the Municipal Court of Hackensack on September 20, 2023, resulting in a mere 30-day jail sentence and a $905 fine for disorderly conduct.
During the 2006 arrest in Hackensack, he was convicted on both counts and sentenced to 330 days in jail, according to DHS.
Despite his violent criminal past, Garcia-Morales was shielded from deportation due to New Jersey’s sanctuary policies.
He is also suspected of multiple incidents last year involving rocks being thrown at vehicles and police officers.
Garcia-Morales has been charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal mischief.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, “Violently targeting a school bus full of children is extremely wicked and heinous. Hernando Garcia-Morales should have never been in this country, let alone released after multiple arrests into New Jersey communities.”
“ICE has lodged an arrest detainer against this monster, and we hope New Jersey’s sanctuary politicians will help us keep him off American streets for good,” McLaughlin added.
