Police Forced To X-Ray Suspect’s Stomach After Alleged Jewelry Heist Involving $769,000 Diamond Earrings
In what sounds like a scene from a movie, authorities took 32-year-old Jaythan Lawrence Gilder into custody after he allegedly attempted to pull off a jewelry store heist worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to police, Gilder posed as a representative of an NBA player to gain access to the expensive collection before making his move inside a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando.
Investigators say he forced his way out of the store with a massive haul, including a pair of 4.86-carat diamond earrings valued at $160,000 and another pair of 8.19-carat diamond earrings worth a staggering $609,500.
He also attempted to steal a ring valued at $587,000, though police were later able to recover it.
During the chaos, a staff member was reportedly injured while attempting to prevent him from fleeing.
Authorities later tracked him down on Interstate 10 in Washington County, where he was pulled over and taken into custody. Along with charges related to the jewelry heist, police discovered that Gilder had 48 outstanding warrants in Colorado.
At the time of his arrest, officers believed he was headed toward Texas, possibly trying to escape with the stolen diamonds.
Law enforcement later released an X-ray image taken at the jail, revealing at least 13 carats of diamonds inside his stomach. The total value of the ingested jewelry? Just under $800,000.
According to the arrest report: “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.”
Needless to say, retrieving the stolen goods is going to be quite an unpleasant job for someone…
One staff member later claimed they overheard him say he should have just tossed them out the window instead.
Gilder has since been charged with first-degree grand theft and robbery while wearing a mask, adding to his long list of legal troubles.
