Teenager charged with kidnapping in car theft that sparked Amber Alert in Prince George’s Co.

A 3-year-old old boy from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, has been found after he went missing when the vehicle he was inside was stolen, according to Prince George’s County police.

An Amber Alert was issued around 6:20 p.m. for Blake Morgan. The boy was in a brown, 2015 Nissan Armada when it was stolen by a stranger from a gas station in the 5300 block of Ritchie Marlboro Road.



The boy was found two hours later in the Riverdale area, according to police. The Amber Alert has since been canceled.

Prince George’s County police arrested 18-year-old Ariel Florentino-Galeas, of Hyattsville, on charges of kidnapping, reckless endangerment, theft and other related charges.

Police said that at approximately 6:20 p.m., Florentino-Galeas jumped into the running vehicle at a gas station in the 5300 block of Ritchie Marlboro Road with the owner’s 3-year-old grandson inside. The grandfather immediately called 911.

Around 8:20 p.m., another driver called in a hit-and-run in the area of 56th Avenue and Hamilton Street in Riverdale. A description of the SUV matched the missing vehicle, a Prince George’s County police news release said.

Police found the SUV abandoned in the 5300 block of Farragut Street in the Riverdale area, with the child alone inside.

They found the suspect about a quarter mile from where the car was located, and Florentino-Galeas was arrested at his home on Quincy Street.

Anyone with information on what happened should call police at 301-390-2160.

WTOP’s Abigail Constantino and John Domen contributed to this report. 

Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at WTOP. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.

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