Background: A photo of the school bus that was hit by a rock on Jan. 7 (New Jersey State Police). Inset: Hernando Garciamorales (Bergen County Sheriff”s Office).

Hernando Garciamorales, aged 40, faces several charges including aggravated assault, weapon possession for illegal purposes, endangering a child’s welfare, criminal mischief, fleeing arrest, and obstruction. These charges were announced by the New Jersey State Police via Facebook on Friday. Authorities linked Garciamorales to an incident on January 7, where a rock, comparable in size to a baseball, struck a school bus traveling northbound on the New Jersey Turnpike in Teaneck Township.

The impact shattered a bus window, injuring an 8-year-old girl who suffered a severe head injury, necessitating surgical intervention. According to WABC, a local ABC affiliate, the bus was returning to Yeshivat Noam school following a third-grade field trip to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Fortunately, no other passengers were harmed, and the young girl is expected to make a recovery.

Authorities apprehended Garciamorales at a makeshift campsite located in Bergen County, where the incident allegedly occurred. Upon his arrest, further investigations revealed his connection to several other rock-throwing incidents in the area, though specifics about these events remain undisclosed.

Garciamorales is currently detained at Bergen County Jail, awaiting a detention hearing, though details of his next court appearance have not been released.

Garciamorales is being held at Bergen County Jail pending a detention hearing, police said. His next court date was not provided.