On February 26, a man walked into a Tiffany & Co. jewelry store at a Florida mall, while pretending to be an agent for an unnamed Orlando Magic player.
Videos by FanBuzz
The man posing to be the NBA player representative has been identified as Jaythan Gilder, 32, from Houston Texas.
Upon telling the store employees his made-up persona, Gilder was led to the VIP room where he was shown two pairs of diamond earrings that included, 4.86 carat diamond earrings worth $160,000 and a pair of 8.19 carat diamond earrings worth $609,500. In addition, to a $587k diamond ring (per KTLA5).
That is, according to store employees, during the consultation Gilder immediately grabbed for the jewelry, while then pushing his way through trying to exit the store.
During the scuffle the ring was dropped, yet he was able to escape the store's front doors with the earrings.
The security cameras outside the mall were able to capture Gilder's license plate while he was exiting in his 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander.
That is, Florida Highway Patrol tracked him down and upon being confronted by the police, he actually swallowed the earrings, which were estimated to be worth $769,500.
When taken to jail, a scan showed several foreign objects inside of him, which were presumably the Tiffany earrings.
Considering this, court documents don't show if and how they were able to recover the stolen property.
Man posing as NBA player representative swallows $769,000 in stolen Tiffany jewelry, police say
A man pretending to represent a professional basketball player allegedly swallowed hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stolen Tiffany jewelry, according to court documents. pic.twitter.com/D2wQeecuhE
— Derek Jon DeMasi (@The_MPCNetwork) March 5, 2025
Ultimately, Gilder has since been charged with two felonies over the allegations, including robbery with a mask and grand theft first degree (per TMZ).
According to Gilder's criminal record, he attempted to pull this same stunt back in 2022 at a Tiffany & Co. in Texas, in what police are calling "a near identical robbery/theft."
Related: Trea Turner Impersonator Scams An Ederly Fan Out Of $50,000
