Bridgeport, Maryland, Pastor Kenneth Moales Jr. (53) was visiting Baltimore to perform a funeral on June 29 when he was held at gunpoint later that day by a 16-year-old. Even though Moales fought back, the teen carjacked Moales’ car. A nearby security camera caught the attack.
“You still got the dog in you, Grandpa,” Moales’ grandson said.
Maryland Pastor Kenneth Moales Jr. Fought Back: Carjacked Following Funeral
Following the funeral, Pastor Kenneth Moales Jr. planned to meet a local pastor for dinner at a seafood restaurant. When Moales was parking his car, a teenager approached the car, seemingly in need of help, according to the Connecticut Post.
Moales lowered the driver’s window. In the pouring rain, the carjacker pulled a ski mask over his head and pointed a gun at Moales.
“I will shoot you. Get out of the car,” the carjacker told Moales.
Moales, a former football player, thought that he could take the young, small teen.
“I can’t die like this,” Moales thought to himself. “My wife and children at home, they’d be devastated. I can’t die here.”
Moales got out of the car and punched the teen. The teen pistol-whipped the pastor in the head. The two struggled to the other side of the car and onto the sidewalk, where Moales pinned the 16-year-old to the ground.
“I’m in full pursuit at age 53 and 300 pounds, chasing some young kid in the rain,” Moales said. “It’s all adrenaline, fight or flight.”
The two continued to struggle, and Moales “wrestled to get the gun out of his hand,” according to WBALTV.
“No one is proud of me and no one is calling me a hero, except my grandson,” Moales said. “He said, ‘You’re the man. You still got the dog in you, Grandpa.'”