A pastor who miraculously fought off and forgave a teen carjacker while visiting Baltimore hopes something positive can come out of the moment.
Pastor Kenneth Moales Jr., who was visiting Baltimore City towards the end of June from Bridgeport, Connecticut, for a funeral, was carjacked at gunpoint on Pratt Street in Upper Fells Point, CBS News reported.
In video footage of the incident obtained by WJZ, an armed 16-year-old in a ski mask can be seen approaching Moales’ vehicle when he taps on the window.
“I size him up, like I can take this guy. I can take him, but again, he has this gun pointed at my chest. It doesn’t take that long to kill somebody,” Moales said.
When the pastor got out of his car, the two proceeded to tussle, with the pastor successfully fighting back. After wrestling him to the ground, the teen broke loose, picked up his gun and a shoe that had fallen off, and got in the car before driving away. The entire altercation was over within two minutes.
Now, more than a week later, Moales is back home in Connecticut with his car recovered. Authorities were able to locate the car within a matter of hours. Three teens aged 15, 16, and 19 have been made in connection with the crime. (The 19-year-old has since turned 20.)
The pastor said during the melee that he forgave the 16-year-old boy who carjacked him. As he pleaded with him he informed him that he was husband, a father, and a pastor.
“I’m extremely frustrated with his choice, but much like his generation, that’s where we are,” Moales said. “I want to be part of the trial. I want to testify against him and ask the judge to give him mercy.”
He added that he’s more hurt that teen still chose to make off with the car even after learning that he was a pastor who intended to let him go. The encounter has reignited a sense of purpose in the pastor to bring the younger generation back to god and back to hope.
“We’ve got to save our sons,” he told WJZ. “Because as a community, if our sons go down, that’s the whole community.”
The encounter hasn’t put the pastor off of Charm City.
“I love Baltimore. I want to make it clear, I love Baltimore,” he stressed. “I don’t view Baltimore outside of the light of the epidemic of all urban communities. It’s just a dangerous time.”
