Connecticut Pastor Fights Off Armed Teen Carjacker in Baltimore, Urges Mercy Despite Attack

Pastor Kenneth Moales Jr. tackled a teenager who tried to carjack his vehicle in Baltimore

A Connecticut pastor visiting Baltimore turned the tables on an armed teen carjacker, tackling and pinning the suspect to the ground before the youth fled the scene with the stolen vehicle. The confrontation, which occurred in late June, involved Kenneth Moales Jr., Bishop-Elect of the Pentecostal Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bridgeport.

Moales was sitting in his car late at night when he was approached by a teen who asked him for the time. As the pastor turned to respond, the teen pulled up a ski mask, brandished a firearm, and demanded Moales exit the vehicle.

“I knew something wasn’t right,” Moales recalled. “He’s pulling up his ski mask over his face and puts the gun to the window and says, ‘Get out of the car now.’ I thought, ‘I’m about to get carjacked.’”

Despite being held at gunpoint, Moales refused to surrender without resistance. He exited the car and tackled the teen, pinning him to the pavement in a dramatic struggle captured on video. Moales said he believed the youth had "placed materialism over my life" and had "picked the wrong car."

Still from a video shows Bishop-Elect Kenneth Moales Jr., a Bridgeport pastor, pinning a teenage carjacker in Baltimore after wrestling a gun away from the thief. The 16-year-old managed to get away with the car, but police arrested him within two hours, Moales said

During the fight, the suspect managed to break free, strike the pastor, and flee the scene in Moales’ vehicle. As the confrontation escalated, Moales realized the attacker was a teenager and chose not to retaliate further, instead trying to show mercy.

“I’m more hurt that he didn’t have respect for me as a pastor,” Moales said. “After giving him a chance, I didn’t take the opportunity to hurt him when he was down.”

Moales sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was hospitalized but is now recovering. His car was recovered the following day. Baltimore police arrested three suspects in connection with the incident: a 15-year-old, a 16-year-old, and a 19-year-old. Authorities confirmed the teens are linked to a series of carjackings in the area, some while wearing court-ordered ankle monitors.

Bishop-Elect Kenneth Moales Jr., pastor of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bridgeport, recently fought an armed carjacker in Baltimore. Moales said he's no hero, but adrenaline drove him to wrestle away the robber's gun and slam him to the pavement. "It's the Bridgeport in me," he said

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott addressed the incident, vowing to hold the perpetrators accountable and expressing concern over the rising trend of youth violence in the city. Within the same week, at least nine teenagers were arrested in connection with two separate carjacking incidents.

Moales, a well-known figure in Bridgeport, previously made headlines in 2022 when his properties, including the Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love and the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, were foreclosed due to over $8 million in unpaid mortgage debt.

The pastor’s confrontation has reignited conversations around youth crime, urban violence, and the balance between justice and compassion.