The maniac accused of hurling a rock at a faculty bus from a New Jersey Turnpike overpass — fracturing the cranium of an 8-year-old lady — is an unlawful immigrant from Mexico with an extended rap sheet, The Publish has realized.
Hernando Garcia-Morales, 40, allegedly threw the baseball-sized stone on Jan. 7 at a bus returning to Teaneck after a subject journey to the Liverty Science Middle.
Garcia-Morales advised cops he believed the bus “was the satan or his enemy” when he was arrested two days after the assault at a homeless encampment in Palisades Park, NJ.
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Federal officers advised The Publish this week the unhinged menace ought to by no means have been within the USA to start with.
The Division of Homeland Safety doesn’t know when or the place Garcia-Morales illegally entered the nation however his legal historical past within the Backyard State stretches again 20 years.
In 2006 he was arrested for possession of a weapon and theft, based on DHS. And he was in hassle with the legislation twice in 2023, the company revealed, however was not charged in sanctuary state.
On July 23, 2023, Garcia-Morales was arrested for housebreaking after allegedly coming into a constructing in Hackensack, NJ, DHS reported. These costs weren’t pursued. The next day, he was arrested once more in Hackensack and charged with giving false info and tried housebreaking.
These costs had been downgraded by the Municipal Court docket of Hackensack on Sept. 20, 2023 and Garcia-Morales walked away with solely a 30-day jail sentence and $905 nice for disorderly conduct.
Within the 2006 arrest in Hackensack, he was convicted on each costs and sentenced to 330 days in jail, based on DHS.
He’s a suspect in a number of different rock-throwing incidents final 12 months, the place automobiles and cops had been focused, authorities mentioned. He has twice been accused of peeping into properties in Bogota, NJ, based on authorities, NorthJersey.com reported.
Regardless of his unlawful standing and alleged violence, Garcia-Morales by no means confronted deportation due to New Jersey’s sanctuary immigration insurance policies, DHS claimed.
“Violently focusing on a faculty bus full of kids is extraordinarily depraved and heinous,” mentioned DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Hernando Garcia-Morales ought to have by no means been on this nation, not to mention launched after a number of arrests into New Jersey communities.
“ICE has lodged an arrest detainer in opposition to this monster, and we hope New Jersey’s sanctuary politicians will assist us preserve him off American streets for good,” McLaughlin mentioned.
The Division of Justice is presently suing 4 Backyard State cities for obstructing federal immigration authorities with insurance policies that forestall native legislation enforcement from coordinating with federal immigration businesses to deport illegal-alien criminals.
In the meantime, the injured third-grader is again at her household’s Bergenfield residence, based on her household and supporters.
“She’s again and recovering properly — and really pleased to listen to her attacker was apprehended,” Teaneck Mayor Mark Schwartz advised The Publish.
The lady attends Yeshivat Noam faculty in Teaneck.
She suffered a deep laceration on her brow and fracture the dimensions of a nickel to her orbital bone, based on prosecutors.
She was taken to Hackensack Meridian Hospital the place she underwent surgical procedure with medical doctors inserting titanium mesh plates and screws in her head to treatment the extreme harm.
“The household hopes that the person accountable can be prosecuted to the fullest extent permitted by legislation for his heinous actions,” mentioned household lawyer Ross Rothenberg.
Garcia-Morales has been charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, possession of a weapon, legal trespassing, and legal mischief within the rock assault. His lawyer, Heather Aguliar, mentioned he suffers from psychological sickness. He has but to file a proper plea.
Within the mugshot picture after his arrest, Garcia-Morales is seen with mouth bizarrely open, flaunting a lacking entrance tooth.
Garcia-Morales appeared in Superior Court docket on Jan. 16 the place Choose Marc Ramundo dominated he would stay in Bergen County jail till the case is resolved.“Simply the extraordinary randomness presents that further degree of hazard to the group,” Ramundo mentioned in court docket.
