Pastor from Bridgeport recounts fighting off armed carjacker: 'I cannot die in Baltimore'
BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut (WABC) -- A pastor from Bridgeport, Connecticut, described the frightening struggle between him and an armed carjacker who attempted to steal his Audi parked outside a restaurant near Baltimore last month, and it was all caught on surveillance video.
"I'm all in the face, I'm punching him, the gun. I get the gun out of his hand, and that's why the gun was in front of the car," said the carjacking victim, Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr.
It sounds dramatic, and surveillance video shows just how violent it was: a struggle between an armed carjacker and a man of the cloth, a church pastor in fear for his life.
"I'm an urban kid, and to see what he had, I saw his size and I knew I could take him, but in no way -- I want to make it clear -- I was not trying to be a hero," Moales said.
Ten days ago, Moales traveled to Baltimore for a funeral from Bridgeport, where he's the pastor of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.
He was parked outside a restaurant when the suspect approached, pretending he needed help with his phone. Moales says adrenaline kicked in, and once the gun was on the ground and he had his attacker pinned, he realized he was fighting with a teenager.
"And I said to the young man, at that point, 'I'm a pastor. I'm a pastor. I'm not going to press charges. I'm going to let you go. You have to stop this. This is crazy," Moales said.
Undeterred, the teen breaks free, picks up a sneaker that had come off, then picks up the gun, gets into the car and points the weapon, before eventually driving off in the Audi.
Moales' wife got a call from the hospital. After ensuring her husband was okay, she says she went on a rant.
"When someone has a gun, you just obey and get out the way, and preserve your life. But after he explained it to me, I understood why. There was a chance that the gunman could have shot him anyway," Ena Moales said.
The 53-year-old pastor, who will be elevated to bishop next year, says he's already forgiven the 16-year-old suspect who was arrested a short time later.
"I'm more hurt, as an African American pastor, that once I let him know that I was a pastor, that he didn't care. He had no reverence for me, to honor the office of a pastor," Moales, Jr. said.
A 15-year-old and a 19-year-old were also charged.
Bishop-elect Moales says this isn't a Baltimore problem and is pivoting his ministry to focus on the youth.
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