An Orlando, Florida man walked into a Tiffany & Co., jewelry store posing as an Orlando Magic player’s assistant and is now in custody at the Orlando jail after attempting to steal more than $700K in diamond earrings.
Jaythan Gilder, 32, claimed he was shopping for an NBA star convincing the jewelry to show him some “very high-end jewelry.” The store clerk escorted Gillder into the VIP room at a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando, Florida. They proceeded to show him two pairs of earrings valued at $769,500, and a diamond ring valued at $587,000 as he fled the store.
Mr. Gilder then distracted the store employees, making a mad dash out of the store with the earrings. Gilder was also in possession of the diamond ring when he attempted his getaway. However, he dropped the ring while fleeing from the store, according to BBC news.
Orlando PD quickly caught up with the diamond thief and saw that Mr. Gilder had shoved the earrings into his mouth, managing to swallow the evidence. While transporting him to the Orlando jail, officers heard Gilder saying to himself, “I should have thrown them out the window.”
At the jail, Mr Gilder allegedly asked staff, “Am I going to be charged with what’s in my stomach?”
Diamond Theif Spends Two Weeks In Hospital Awaiting Return Of Diamond Earrings
The Orlando PD transported Jaythan Gilder to a nearby hospital. He was given an x-ray confirming a foreign object inside the individual’s abdomen. Gilder was admitted to the hospital. He spent the next two weeks under guard until the precious Tiffany diamonds were eventually recovered.
One commenter joked, “Now that is some valuable sheeeet there.” Another stated, “That must have been a fun day at work.” While a third questioned,”Does a buyer get a discount since they were found in human feces? I would hope so!”
Detective Aaron Goss joked that the diamond heist “quickly turned into a marathon, not a sprint“. After the stolen Tiffany Diamonds were recovered they were returned to the store. The store’s jeweler confirmed the serial numbers on the earrings matched the numbers of the stolen items. Tiffany’s has since cleaned the earrings.
Oddly enough this was not Gilder’s first jewelry robbery. A quick check of his criminal history shows a 2022 robbery at another Tiffany & Co. store in Texas.
It also revealed that Jaythan Gilder is wanted in Colorado on 48 separate warrants. For now, Gilder is being housed in the Orlando jail. He faces charges of robbery with a mask and grand theft in the first degree.
