TEANECK, NJ- An illegal alien is behind bars after he threw a baseball-sized rock at a school bus on the northbound New Jersey Turnpike on Jan. 7, the New Jersey State Police said, according to Fox News Digital
Hernando Garcia-Morales, 40, of Palisades Park, faces multiple charges in connection with the incident.
Police said that a school bus filled with third-grade children was traveling back to the Yeshivat Noam Jewish day school in Paramus after taking a class trip to the Liberty Science Center when a large rock smashed through the bus window. An 8-year-old girl underwent surgery after suffering a skull fracture, officials said.
The suspect, a Mexican national who is in the country illegally, was arrested on Jan. 9 by the New Jersey State Police and charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and possession of a weapon. The Bogota Police Department also charged him with aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, defiant criminal trespassing peering, and criminal mischief damage property.
On Saturday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an arrest detainer for Garcia-Morales since he is an illegal alien from Mexico.
The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital that the suspect has a history of violence and is in the country illegally, however hasn’t been deported due to New Jersey’s sanctuary state policies. .
“Violently targeting a school bus full of children is extremely wicked and heinous,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “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 continued.
While DHS doesn’t know exactly when Garcia-Morales illegally entered the United States, they noted he has a criminal record going back at least two decades.
In 2006, he was arrested for possession of a weapon and theft, according to The New York Post, and was arrested for burglary in 2023 after entering a building in Hackensack, New Jersey. The Post said those charges were not pursued, however Garcia-Morales was arrested the next day in Hackensack and charged with providing false information and attempted burglary.
Those charges, however, were downgraded on Sept. 20, 2023, resulting in only a 30-day jail sentence and a $905 fine for disorderly conduct.
Authorities told the day school that Garcia-Morales confessed to the specific incident on the New Jersey Turnpike, however that wasn’t his only rodeo as he admitted to several other rock-throwing incidents in the area, the school said.
On Jan. 16, a superior court judge ruled that Garcia-Morales would remain locked up in the Bergen County jail until the case is disposed of, The Post reported.
Last year, the Justice Department announced it was suing four New Jersey cities, accusing local officials of obstructing federal law and undermining the government’s efforts to enforce immigration laws through sanctuary city policies.
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