Criminals try to scheme creative ways to get out of trouble.
One thief took the cake.
And Florida police arrested a hungry crook after he made one bad decision to avoid trouble.
Florida man eats more than $1 million worth of jewelry
One crook in Florida was willing to do anything to avoid getting arrested, including eating the evidence.
Jaythan Lawrence Gilder, a 32-year-old, allegedly went into the Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando, Florida, with a plan.
He told the employees that he was the personal representative of a basketball player on the NBA’s Orlando Magic.
That let him con the employees into letting him see the high-end jewelry in the store.
He got his hands on a pair of 8.19-carat diamond earrings valued at $609,500, two 4.86-carat diamond earrings worth $160,000, and a $587,000 ring.
Gilder “forcefully took the earrings and resisted an employee’s attempts to stop him” and bolted out of the store, according to the Orlando Police Department.
He managed to drive six hours away to Washington County in the Florida panhandle before he was pulled over by the police.
“Through investigative means, detectives were able to identify the getaway vehicle and the route it was taking toward Texas. Shortly after the theft, the Florida Highway Patrol was notified and spotted the vehicle driving without rear lights on Interstate 10 in Washington County,” the Orlando Police stated. “A traffic stop was made based on the observed violation, and the driver was identified as Gilder.”
Gilder added a charge of resisting arrest after he was busted by the police.
A long painful wait for the evidence
Washington County Sheriff’s Deputies noticed that Gilder appeared to swallow something as they arrested him.
“When Gilder was taken into custody, he resisted arrest and was seen swallowing several objects believed to be the stolen earrings,” the Orlando Police said. “With the help of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, investigators executed a search warrant to locate the stolen property.”
An X-ray was taken of him that determined there were foreign objects in his stomach that were likely the missing Tiffany & Co. earrings.
The wait was on to discover what was hiding in Gilder’s stomach.
“These foreign objects are suspected to be the Tiffany & Co. earrings taken in the robbery but will need to be collected by WCSO after they are passed through Gilder’s system prior to confirming,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office arrest report stated.
Gilder gave away what was in his stomach when he spoke to the guards at the jail.
He “spontaneously asked jail staff” if he could be “charged with what’s in my stomach,” according to the Orlando Police.
The desperate crook added that he “should have thrown them out the window.”
Police discovered that Gilder had robbed another Tiffany & Co. store in The Woodlands, Texas in 2022, and he had 48 outstanding warrants in Colorado.
He was charged with grand theft in the first degree and robbery with a mask.
Gilder learned the hard way that swallowing the evidence does not pay.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
