Cops have finally recovered $770,000 worth of Tiffany diamond earrings after a suspected thief swallowed them during his arrest at the side of a highway in Florida.
Orlando Police Department detained Jaythan Gilder on February 26 after he allegedly stole two pairs of earrings from the upscale jewelry store in the Sunshine State.
The 32-year-old Houston native responded by gobbling the evidence, as shown in shocking X-Ray images. Cops recovered the final earring last week, Orlando Police confirmed on Friday.
Three of the earrings were recovered two days before that. Gilder was transferred from a jail to a hospital while detectives waited to collect the evidence, police said.
After the jewelry was recovered, Gilder was taken to the Orange County Jail where he was charged with robbery with a mask and first-degree grand theft.
Freshly ‘expelled’ from Gilder’s system, the jewels were returned to Tiffany’s where the serial numbers were reportedly matched to those of the missing items – after a thorough cleaning.
During the incident, Gilder allegedly told Tiffany employees he was interested in purchasing diamond earrings and a diamond ring on behalf of an Orlando Magic basketball player.
Sales associates escorted him to a VIP room where he could view the jewelry. Surveillance footage showed Gilder sitting inside the store in front of the jewels before he snatched the ring and earrings.
Cops have finally recovered $770,000 worth of Tiffany diamond earrings after a suspected thief swallowed them during his arrest at the side of a highway in Florida
Jaythan Gilder, from Houston, Texas, swiped more than $700,000 worth of Tiffany & Co jewelry before swallowing the evidence, police said
A body scan revealed a foreign object inside Gilder’s stomach after he was pulled over
He then allegedly attempted to flee the room, injuring a staff member who tried to stop him and dropping the ring during the commotion.
Employee Amit Nayee was left with visible injuries after Gilder ‘violently’ pulled his arms, police said.
Jaythan Gilder, 32, from Houston, Texas
He then swerved several more staff members before taking off from the store, court documents claim.
Gilder allegedly fled the scene in a blue 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander, which was later pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol for a separate traffic offense.
Officers noted Tiffany price tags and earring forms on the floor of the vehicle.
As he was being taken into custody, Gilder was seen ‘swallowing several objects believed to be the stolen earrings’, police said.
One of the highway patrol officers also said he overheard Gilder stating, ‘I should have thrown them out the window’ in reference to the earrings.
He was taken to Washington County Jail, where investigators said a live scan revealed the jewelry inside his stomach.
During the incident, Gilder allegedly told Tiffany staff he was interested in purchasing diamond earrings and a diamond ring on behalf of an Orlando Magic basketball player
He ‘violently’ shoved a store associate before taking off with the earrings, per legal filings
Gilder also asked staff at the jail, ‘am I going to be charged with what is in my stomach?’ according to the arrest report.
He was charged with grand theft in the first degree, and robbery with a mask.
Police said at the time of the incident he was wearing a gauze nose covering, arm bandage and a hat, which he used as a mask to obscure his identity.
Nayee managed to pick Gilder out from a police line-up, and he remains in custody in Orange County.
It is not the first time Gilder has had a brush with the law; he was charged in an almost identical robbery from a Tiffany & Co store in Texas in 2022.
He also has 48 ‘failure to appear’ warrants out in Colorado, CBS News reported.
