Hernando Garcia-Morales, who is accused of throwing a rock at a school bus, is in the US illegally
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A New Jersey man accused of injuring a little girl by throwing a baseball-sized rock at a school bus is in the country illegally, according to federal officials.
Hernando Garcia-Morales, 40, of Palisades Park, faces multiple charges in connection with a Jan. 7 car crash on the northbound New Jersey Turnpike, New Jersey State Police said.
The third-graders were returning to Yeshivat Noam Jewish Day School in Paramus after a class trip to the Liberty Science Center when a large rock smashed through the bus window, the school previously told Fox News Digital.
An 8-year-old girl suffered a skull fracture after being hit by a rock and had to undergo surgery, officials said.
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A New Jersey girl was injured when a rock was thrown through the window of a school bus returning from a field trip, authorities said. (New Jersey State Police)
Garcia-Morales was arrested on Jan. 9 by the New Jersey Turnpike State Police for aggravated assault, resisting arrest and possession of a weapon. The Bogota Police Department also charged him with aggravated assault, trespassing, observing a crime, and damaging property.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Saturday that US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) has released a detainer against Hernando Garcia-Morales, who it says is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
DHS told Fox News Digital that Garcia-Morales has a history of violence and is in the country illegally, but said he was not deported because of New Jersey’s immigration policies.
“Forcibly targeting a school bus full of children is very, very wrong,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Hernando Garcia-Morales should never have been in this country, let alone be released after multiple arrests in New Jersey communities.”
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Hernando Garcia-Morales, the New Jersey man accused of throwing a rock at a school bus and injuring an 8-year-old girl, is in the country illegally, according to DHS. (New Jersey State Police; Department of Homeland Security)
“ICE has an arrest warrant for this monster, and we hope New Jersey politicians will help us get him off the streets of America,” McLaughlin said.
DHS said it did not know when or where Garcia-Morales entered the country illegally, but noted that he has a criminal history spanning two decades.
He was arrested in 2006 for possession of a firearm and theft, according to the New York Post, and was arrested for burglary in 2023 after allegedly breaking into a building in Hackensack, New Jersey. Those charges were never pursued, the newspaper reported, but Garcia-Morales was arrested the next day in Hackensack and charged with giving false information and attempted burglary.
Authorities said Hernando Garcia-Morales faces multiple charges after a rock smashed the window of a school bus on the New Jersey Turnpike. (Department of Homeland Security)
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Hackensack Municipal Court dismissed the charges on September 20, 2023, leaving Garcia-Morales with a 30-day jail sentence and a $905 fine for disorderly conduct.
Authorities told officials at Yeshivat Noam Jewish School that Garcia-Morales confessed to the incident on the New Jersey Turnpike, as well as other rock-throwing incidents in the area, the school said.
The judge of the high court decided on Jan. 16 that Garcia-Morales will remain in the Bergen County Jail until the case is resolved, according to The Post.
The Justice Department announced last year that it would sue four New Jersey cities, accusing local officials of undermining federal law and undermining efforts to enforce immigration laws through their sanctuary city policies.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
