ORLANDO, Fla. — Police say they have found four diamond earrings on a suspect thief, two weeks after he stole nearly $770,000 worth of Tiffany & Co. jewellery while being arrested on the side of a Florida Panhandle highway.
Police in Orlando said Friday that the suspect was caught with the last of the four earrings that were stolen from the Tiffany store in Orlando last week.
Two days before that, three of the earrings and two other diamond earrings that had not been named were found. Police said in a statement that the suspect was taken from jail to a hospital while agents waited to get the evidence.
Detectives said the four earrings that were stolen were the same as the jewellery that was stolen from the Tiffany shop last month.
A guy from Texas was taken to the Orange County Jail after the jewellery was found. He is being charged with robbery with a mask and first-degree grand theft.
During the theft, the man is said to have told Tiffany employees that he wanted to buy diamond earrings and a diamond ring for an Orlando Magic basketball player. The man was taken to a VIP room by salespeople so he could look at the jewellery. After a short time, he jumped out of his chair, grabbed the jewellery, and tried to break out the door.
The suspect’s license plate was found on security video from a shopping mall. Detectives think he was driving back to Texas. Police in Orlando were able to track the car using tag readers on the Florida Turnpike and Interstate 10. It was stopped for driving without tail lights in Washington County, which is about 340 miles (550 kilometres) away.
An officer from the state police heard the suspect say, “I should have thrown them out the window.” The suspect also asked staff at the Washington County jail, “Am I going to be charged with what is in my stomach?” this is what the arrest report says.
