Repairman charged after swallowing homeowner's diamond ring

A home repairman faces felony theft charges and up to three years in prison for swallowing a homeowner's diamond ring while on the job. Wilfredo Gonzalez-Cruz, 30, of Chicago allegedly downed the ring to try and hide it from the owners of the house he was working on, according to Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.



Prosecutors say Gonzalez was remodeling a home on Friday in Cicero when he asked to use the bathroom. After, a homeowner noticed her diamond ring was missing. She told her husband, who confronted Gonzalez, who denied taking the ring.

The two began to struggle, according to Alvarez, and Gonzalez took the ring that he had hidden on himself and swallowed it. Police showed up and took Gonzalez to a local hospital. X-rays of Gonzalez's stomach showed he swallowed the ring, prosecutors said.


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Gonzalez was given medication to "force the expulsion of the ring" and was then put in a rubber room with bedpans, Cicero town spokesman Ray Hanania said in an email. "That ring was finally recovered on Monday August 8," Hanania said. Cicero police recovered the ring, and Gonzalez is being held on $10,000 bond. He's back in court Aug. 16.