(AP) MONTERREY, Mexico - A 25-year-old man bit off more than he could chew when he allegedly stole a gold bracelet from an 8-year-old girl and then swallowed the evidence, police in northern Mexico said Tuesday.

Jose Rigoberto Cruz Salas was being administered laxatives to recover the evidence at a jail in a suburb of the northern city of Monterrey, said state police officials who not authorized to be quoted by name.

Cruz Salas admitted to the Sunday theft, said police, who arrested him on Monday. He told the local newspaper, El Norte, that he had swallowed the bracelet when he saw them coming.

“I just suddenly ate it. I saw the patrol car and the only thing that occurred to me was to swallow it,” Cruz Salas said, according to the newspaper.

Police ordered an x-ray of his stomach, which revealed the stolen jewelry.

He faces robbery charges, punishable by a fine or a jail term of six months to 15 years — depending on the bracelet’s value. Its worth could not be immediately determined.

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