Man posing as NBA player representative allegedly swallowed Tiffany jewelry: police
A man in Florida who was allegedly posing as a representative for an NBA player is being investigated for swallowing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Tiffany jewelry, according to court documents.
Jaythan Gilder, 32, of Houston, Texas is accused of robbing a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 26. According to court documents reviewed by Paste BN, Gilder allegedly entered the store and told staff that his name was Shawn.
He is then alleged to have told employees that he was negotiating a sale on behalf of a player on the Orlando Magic, though court records did not specify which player Gilder was talking about. Court documents said Gilder was “inquiring about some diamond earrings and a diamond ring.”
Due to the potential size of the purchase, Gilder was taken to a VIP room in the store, staff told police. Gilder was then shown two pairs of diamond earrings as well as a diamond ring with a combined value of more than $1 million.
While inside the room, Gilder jumped out of his seat and grabbed the jewelry. As he was trying to escape the room, a store associate tried and failed to stop him, court records said.
During the scuffle, Gilder dropped the diamond ring but managed to escape the store and left the mall with the two pairs of earrings.
Police said Gilder was seen in surveillance cameras entering a car which was traced using toll records and public safety cameras. The car was then stopped by the Florida Highway Patrol hours later.
Gilder was taken into custody by police after they allegedly found earring forms and price tags from the store on the floor of Gilder’s car.
Court records said Gilder allegedly swallowed both pairs of earrings stolen from the store and later said “I should have thrown them out the window."
Police said the earrings Gilder allegedly swallowed are valued at more than $760,000. A live scan at the Washington County Jail showed “several foreign objects” in Gilder’s stomach.
In response, Gilder reportedly asked jail staff, “Am I going to be charged with what's in my stomach?"
The answer was yes, as Gilder now faces one charge of grand theft in the first degree and robbery with a mask. Police also said Gilder has had a history of committing similar robberies, as his records show an arrest for theft at another Tiffany store in Texas in 2022. Gilder also had 48 “failure to appear" warrants in Colorado.
Paste BN was not able to immediately find an attorney representing Gilder for comment.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.