Authorities arrested a woman who allegedly swallowed a ring stolen from a Zales jewelry store on Friday night. Apart from the woman, police also took under custody a man who was said to have been the one to actually steal the ring from the store.

In a press release, the Department of Public Safety in Orem disclosed that police officers were alerted to a theft at a Zales store at University Mall, 575 E. University Parkway at roughly 7:36 p.m. on Friday. Orem police Lt. Craig Martinez shared in a statement that Bryan Ford, 29, was reported leaving the jewelry store after taking a ring worth thousands of dollars. According to the store employees, Ford got in a white Pontiac G6 driven by a woman. Authorities identified the woman as Christina Schlegel, 25.

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Records show that upon learning of the theft, a jewelry store employee ran after Ford. However, he was unable to catch the suspect as he immediately boarded a vehicle described by witnesses to have had pink sticky notes concealing the license plate. Police said that the vehicle driven by the suspects was subsequently spotted by a Utah Valley University officer at a Ventana Student Housing, 1386 S. 400 West in Orem. The jewelry store employee then positively identified the vehicle and the suspects, which immediately led to the arrest of both occupants of the car.

Investigators were initially unable to locate the stolen ring. However, a press release from the authorities reveal that "after being sent on several wild goose chases, we found out that Christina had swallowed the ring in an attempt to hide it when they were pulled over by police." With this information, Schlegel was brought to a local hospital. Her X-ray was taken to prove that the stolen jewelry was really inside her. Upon confirmation, both Ford and Schlegel were taken to the Utah County Jail and charged with theft. To date, no information has been released on whether or not the stolen ring has been retrieved.

TagsZales, jewelry, Orem, Utah, University Mall, Craig Martinez, Bryan Ford, Christina Schlegel, Utah Valley University, Ventana Student Housing, Utah County Jail