A man who swallowed more than $760,000 in stolen diamond earrings during a Florida traffic stop has been found guilty of robbery and grand theft. The conviction comes more than a year after a bizarre jewelry theft at a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando.
Jaythan Gilder posed as a representative for a professional basketball player before stealing the expensive jewelry from the Mall at Millenia in February 2025. According to prosecutors, he also used force against a store employee while trying to escape.
But getting away from the jewelry store was only part of his plan. When Florida Highway Patrol troopers later stopped him, Gilder tried to make the evidence disappear by swallowing the stolen earrings. Bodycam footage shows troopers ordering him to spit out the items as they attempted to stop him.
On October 22, 2026, State Attorney Monique Worrell announced that an Orange County jury had convicted Gilder on both charges. Law enforcement had already recovered the jewelry after nearly two weeks of monitoring him.
Swallowing the Evidence
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The unusual arrest was captured on video, with footage featured in an October 26 report by NBC News. Troopers can be heard repeatedly telling Gilder to get the items out of his mouth.
The stolen earrings were worth more than $750,000. Despite the troopers’ efforts, Gilder managed to swallow the jewelry.
According to the arrest affidavit, Gilder was later taken to the Washington County Jail, where a body scan revealed foreign objects inside his stomach. The document also described a strange question he asked jail staff: “Am I going to be charged with what’s in my stomach?”
Authorities eventually recovered the earrings, but the process took nearly two weeks. Prosecutors said Gilder swallowed them in an attempt to conceal evidence of the robbery.
The Tiffany Robbery
The case began on February 26, 2025, when Gilder entered the Tiffany & Co. store at Orlando’s Mall at Millenia. He claimed to be negotiating a jewelry purchase for a professional basketball player, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
His story helped him gain access to expensive merchandise inside a private viewing room. Surveillance footage showed him sitting with store employees before suddenly grabbing jewelry and attempting to flee.
According to the arrest affidavit, the merchandise included two pairs of diamond earrings valued at $160,000 and $609,500, along with an expensive diamond ring. Gilder struggled with a store employee who tried to stop him, and he dropped the ring during the confrontation.
He managed to escape with the two pairs of earrings, worth a combined $769,500.
Police used surveillance footage and vehicle information to track the suspect after he left the mall. Florida Highway Patrol troopers eventually stopped him in the Florida Panhandle, hundreds of miles from the Orlando store.
Rather than surrendering the stolen merchandise, Gilder attempted to swallow it, turning an already serious robbery case into an unusually complicated effort to recover evidence.
Recovering the Diamonds
The recovery required more than a routine search of the suspect’s belongings. The expensive earrings were inside Gilder’s digestive system, and law enforcement personnel had to wait for them to pass through his body.
Orlando police later reported that they had recovered all four stolen earrings. Police recovered three on March 10, 2025, followed by the final earring on March 12.
The pieces were returned to Tiffany & Co. for examination, where their identifying numbers confirmed they matched the jewelry taken from the store.
The successful recovery meant the prosecution could proceed with both surveillance evidence from the store and the stolen merchandise itself.
Jury Finds Him Guilty
Following a trial, an Orange County jury found Gilder guilty of robbery and grand theft, the Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office announced October 22.
State Attorney Monique Worrell emphasized that the case involved more than the financial value of the stolen jewelry. She highlighted the danger employees faced during the robbery.
“This case involved not only a significant financial loss, but also the safety of employees who were confronted with violence while simply doing their jobs,” Worrell said.
The prosecutor also credited the Orlando Police Department and its law enforcement partners for their work on the case.
Gilder’s sentencing is scheduled for December 7, 2026.
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