ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Detectives have recovered four diamond earrings from a suspected thief two weeks after he gulped the Tiffany & Co. jewelry worth nearly $770,000 during his arrest on the side of a highway in Florida, authorities said Friday.
The last of the four earrings stolen from the Tiffany store in Orlando was recovered from the suspect last week, the Orlando Police Department said.
Three of the earrings were recovered two days before that, along with two other unidentified diamond earrings. The suspect, 32-year-old Jaythan Gilder, was transferred from a jail to a hospital while detectives waited to collect the evidence, police officials said in a statement.
The four stolen earrings matched the serial numbers from the jewelry taken from the Tiffany store on Feb. 26. After the jewelry was recovered, the Texas man was taken to the Orange County Jail where he faces charges of robbery with a mask and first-degree grand theft.
During the theft, Gilder allegedly told Tiffany sales associates 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. A short time later, Gilder jumped out of his chair, grabbed the jewelry and tried to force his way out of the door.
Detectives obtained the license plate of the suspect’s car through shopping mall security footage and believe he was driving back to Texas. State troopers tracked the car from tag readers on the Florida Turnpike and Interstate 10 until he was pulled over for driving without rear lights in Washington County, almost 340 miles (550 kilometers) away, Orlando police said.
In the squad car, a state trooper heard Gilder say, “I should have thrown them out the window,” according to the arrest report. Once at the Washington County Jail, he asked staff, “Am I going to be charged with what is in my stomach?”
