Bus driver charged with killing 11-year-old Jersey City boy

JERSEY CITY — A private commuter bus driver with a suspended license has been charged with the death of an 11-year-old boy.

NJ.com reported that Raul Delatorre-Galaza, 44, of Elizabeth, was charged with the death of 11-year-old George Gonzalez. The Hudson County Sheriff's Office said the driver caused the death while driving with a suspended license. The report said Delatorre-Galaza's license had been suspended "multiple times" in the past.

Gonzelez was struck on Kennedy Boulvard at Neptune Avenue on Friday morning as Delatorre-Galaza tried to get the bus around a double-parked truck  The boy, a student at the BelovED Charter School, later died at Jersey City Medical Center, according to the report.

Based on pictures from the scene the vehicle is a small, unmarked "jitney" bus.

This is the latest legal woe for a commuter-bus driver in North Jersey.

In June, a driver who crashed a jitney in West New York in 2013, killing an infant, was acquitted of vehicular homicide. A judge said prosecutors did not prove that Idowu Daramola was distracted by a cell phone or acted reckless.

Last year, 15 jitney bus owners were fined after North Bergen police caught drivers using their cell phones.

Also last year, seven jitney owners in Jersey City were fined for failing inspections sparked by the 2013 crash that killed the infant.

And again last year, a jitney driver in Bayonne was arrested after allegedly arguing with cops who had ticketed him for lacking a proper license and for other violations.

Delatorre-Galaza is being held at the Hudson County jail pending $50,000 bail.

A GoFundMe page was created to help with Gonzalez's family funeral expenses.

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