A suspected thief gulped down two pairs of diamond earrings during his arrest on the side of a Florida Panhandle highway last week, detectives say, leaving them with the unenviable task of waiting to “collect” the Tiffany & Co.

Florida police have to wait for the “foreign objects” to pass through Jaythan Gilder’s digestive system before confirming they are the stolen earrings, officials said.

A man stole US$770,000 (NZD$1.3 million) worth of diamond earrings, then swallowed the jewellery before he was detained by state troopers later that day, Florida police say. Jaythan Gilder, 32, of Houston was accused of stealing two pairs of earrings from a Tiffany & Co store in an Orlando shopping mall on February 26,