A Mexican national has been detained after allegedly hurling a rock at a Jewish school bus on the New Jersey Turnpike, leaving an 8-year-old girl with a fractured skull requiring surgery.
Hernando Garcia-Morales was arrested on January 9, 2026, following the January 7 incident where authorities say he threw a baseball-sized rock at a bus carrying children from Yeshivat Noam Jewish school. The attack left one young girl with serious injuries that required medical intervention.
“Violently targeting a school bus full of children is extremely wicked and heinous,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “Hernando Garcia-Morales should have never been in this country, let alone released after multiple arrests into New Jersey communities.”
State Police charged Garcia-Morales with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and possession of a weapon. He faces additional charges from Bogota Police including criminal trespassing, peering, and property damage.
A Troubled History
This isn’t Garcia-Morales’ first brush with the law. Court records indicate prior arrests dating back to 2006 for possession of a weapon and theft, plus a 2023 burglary arrest stemming from a warrant issued 17 years earlier.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an arrest detainer against Garcia-Morales, with McLaughlin adding, “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.”
Why would someone target a school bus? According to disturbing details revealed in court, Garcia-Morales reportedly told authorities the bus was “his enemy and driving fast” — a statement his defense attorney Heather Aguilar-Sposato cited as evidence he is “clearly not mentally OK.”
The defense has argued Garcia-Morales should be held in a mental health facility rather than jail, claiming he led a law-abiding life before 2023. That narrative conflicts with prosecutors’ evidence of his earlier criminal history.
Particularly troubling for investigators, Garcia-Morales has reportedly confessed to similar rock-throwing incidents in the area. Prosecutors used this admission, along with the severity of the child’s injuries, to successfully argue for his continued detention.
Garcia-Morales, who reportedly resides at Old Croaker County Park in Teaneck, will remain behind bars following a detention hearing where a judge determined he poses a significant public safety risk.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens have no place in the U.S.,” McLaughlin stated, highlighting the current administration’s hardline stance on immigration cases involving criminal allegations.
