Diamond heist takes a wild turn as suspect swallows $700K worth of gems in bizarre attempt to evade arrest

A man named Jaythan Gilder, 32, stole diamond earrings worth $770,000 from a Tiffany & Co. store and then tried to escape by swallowing the gems before police could arrest him. He stole the diamond earrings from a store in The Mall at Millenia in Orlando. Gilder pretended to be a representative for an NBA player to gain access to the diamonds, as per reports.

After being shown the jewelry in a private room, he grabbed two sets of earrings worth $609,500 plus $160,000 and ran away. Hours later, Florida Highway Patrol pulled over Gilder on Interstate 10 near Chipley in a rented Mitsubishi Outlander, as stated in the report by The Smoking Gun.

While arresting him, officers saw Gilder moving something in his mouth and refusing to spit it out. Cops warned him he'd get tased if he didn’t open his mouth. He said through clenched teeth, “I don’t have to.” At first, police thought he was swallowing drugs. He claimed the white stuff on his lip was Abreva. A test showed no drugs, according to the reports.


Inside his car, cops only found price tags and earring cards from Tiffany’s, no diamonds. Cops guessed he had actually swallowed the diamonds and sent him to the hospital. Gilder refused an X-ray and didn’t want treatment, as per the report by The Smoking Gun.

At jail, a body scan showed foreign objects in his stomach. He asked, “Am I going to be charged with what’s in my stomach?” He refused laxatives and told jail staff he was Muslim observing Ramadan, so he only ate after sundown. Police waited 2 weeks for him to pass the diamonds.

On March 10, he passed two earrings, but they weren’t the Tiffany ones, police are still checking where those came from. Later that same day, he passed three Tiffany earrings, and the last one came out on March 12. Tiffany’s Master Jeweler cleaned and confirmed the diamonds before giving them back to the store’s security team, according to the report by The Smoking Gun.

Gilder has done this before

In 2022, Gilder swallowed earrings again after robbing a jewelry store in Colorado Springs. That time, the store owner shot him in the back during the escape.

At the hospital, while under guard, he swallowed the earrings so police couldn’t take them. Cops searched his poop but never found them, and scans showed nothing either, as per the report The Smoking Gun.

Current situation

Gilder is now locked up without bail in Florida, facing robbery and grand theft charges. He is also wanted in Colorado for felony charges from the 2022 robbery. His lawyer tried to get him temporary release to attend his mom’s funeral, but a Florida judge said no.

The lawyer said he has PTSD and depression and needed to grieve. Prosecutors refused, calling him a habitual offender and an escape risk. Back in 2022, he had slipped handcuffs in a hospital and tried to escape through the ceiling, causing damage. His lawyer also claimed he had a “limited criminal history,” but cops say his record is 20 years long, covering many states, as per the report by The Smoking Gun.

FAQs

Q1. Who is the man who swallowed stolen Tiffany diamonds?
Jaythan Gilder, a convicted jewel thief, swallowed the diamonds to hide them from police.

Q2. How much were the stolen Tiffany diamonds worth?
The stolen Tiffany & Co. diamonds were worth about $770,000.