A man in Orlando, Florida, tried to steal expensive Tiffany & Co. earrings by swallowing them after a robbery. The suspect, Jaythan Lawrence Gilder, 32, tricked the store staff by pretending to be a representative of an Orlando Magic player. This helped him gain access to high-end jewelry at the Tiffany & Co. store on February 26, 2024.
The Heist
Gilder grabbed two sets of earrings and ran out of the store. The first pair, weighing 4.86 carats, was worth $160,000, while the second set, 8.10 carats, had a price tag of $609,500.
Police caught up with Gilder on Interstate 10 and arrested him for resisting arrest. However, they couldn’t initially find the stolen jewelry, so they couldn’t charge him for the theft right away.
The Shocking Discovery
While in jail, Gilder suddenly asked jail staff if he would be charged “for what’s in my stomach.” This raised suspicion, so officers conducted a body scan. The scan revealed foreign objects inside his digestive system, which detectives believe to be the stolen earrings.
The arrest report stated that the earrings would need to pass through Gilder’s system before law enforcement could retrieve and confirm them. A jail officer also overheard Gilder saying, “I should have thrown them out the window.”
A Repeat Offender
Authorities later found out that Gilder has 48 outstanding warrants in Colorado. He had also been charged for robbing another Tiffany & Co. store in Texas in 2022.
Due to this latest crime, Gilder now faces charges of first-degree grand theft and robbery with a mask. Police will wait for the jewelry to exit his system before adding further charges.
