Finding cake irresistible is understandable, even reasonable. But swallowing Tiffany earrings? That’s a whole new level of brand loyalty. However, it wasn’t a taste for luxury but plain old theft that led a 32-year-old Texas man to gulp down jewelry worth a staggering $770,000. Someone should’ve told Jaythan Lawrence Gilder that these were the wrong kind of carats, sure, they sparkle more than the ones rabbits nibble on, but that doesn’t mean they’re edible. Nevertheless, the bizarre heist unfolded on February 26 at a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando, Florida, where, according to WFLA, Gilder posed as a shopper for an Orlando Magic player to gain access to high-end jewelry.
Ushered into the VIP section, he wasted no time, grabbing the valuables and making a run for it. One brave sales associate risked injury to block his escape, managing to save a diamond ring valued at $587,000. But Gilder still made off with two sets of diamond earrings, one 4.86-carat set worth $160,000 and another 8.10-carat set valued at $609,500. Call him a magician, but when the cops caught up with him, the earrings were nowhere to be found.
The reason? As he was being taken into custody along a Florida Panhandle highway, Gilder swallowed both pairs of earrings. Call it a criminal miscalculation, but while in jail, he “spontaneously” asked staff if he would be charged “with what’s in my stomach,” according to an arrest report reviewed by WFLA. A body scan quickly revealed foreign objects glowing against the gray backdrop of his digestive tract. “These foreign objects are suspected to be the Tiffany & Co. earrings taken in the robbery but will need to be collected … after they are passed,” the report stated.
In the end, Gilder’s stunt made Tiffany & Co. jewelry seem a lot less alluring, and he now faces charges of first-degree felony grand theft and robbery with a mask, a third-degree felony.
