A resurfaced video showing a pastor fighting off a carjacker in Baltimore is going viral online.
According to News12 Connecticut, Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr., the pastor of Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was visiting Baltimore for a funeral in June.
While he was in town, Moales drove to a restaurant one night to have dinner with some friends.
“There’s no way I should be alive,” Moales said.
Surveillance video shows Moales’ silver Audi parked on the street. An individual walking down the street in the pouring rain approaches Moales’ driver’s side window.
“I had just pulled up on Pratt Street in Baltimore when a man comes up to my window, points a gun at my face and tells me to get out of the car,” Moales told News 12.
Moales is seen getting out of the car, fighting off the gunman, then tackling him to the ground, where he wrestled the gun out of his attacker’s hand.
“I got out of the car – but then my instinct was to fight the gunman, because I knew my life was at stake,” the 53-year-old recalled.
Moales said that when he saw his attacker was a teenager, he told him he was a pastor, father, and husband, and wouldn’t press charges if the teen just left.
“But even after all of that – after I had let him go and given him a chance to not face charges – he still drove off in my car,” Moales said.
Surveillance footage shows the teen escaping Moales’ grip on him, then making off with Moales’ car. Moales said he was disappointed the teen chose to steal instead of choosing a different path.
“I gotta get our, our generation of young men back to God, back to hope,” Moales told WJZ. “Back to a vibrant part of our community. We gotta save our sons. Because, as a community, sons go down, that’s the whole community.”
It only took police a few hours to track the car using its navigation system. They found three teenagers inside, ages 15, 16, and 19. Car keys belonging to other vehicles were found inside the 19-year-old’s backpack, according to charging documents WBAL cited.
It was later reported that the 16-year-old was the one who carjacked Moales.
Moales escaped the incident with some minor bruises. He said that he forgives the teen who stole his car.
“I want to be part of the trial. I want to testify against him and ask the judge to give him mercy,” the pastor said.
Many online applauded the pastor for his actions, while others pointed out the riskiness of the move.
“It’s refreshing to hear that the Pastor defended himself against a young thief! And he encouraged the young man…. What a valuable Pastor we’ve witnessed today!” one viewer wrote. “I wouldn’t recommend but I’m glad both are still alive. Cops should take notes not lives,” wrote another.
