The excitement of finding a winning lottery ticket must be substantial. But now imagine that after you win, you realize you have nowhere to redeem your winner: You stole it.

Justin Farley, 43, later told police he “needed money.” The Florida man’s solution? Drive his gray Hyundai Elantra down to the Circle K gas station and nab as many lottery tickets as possible. Authorities say he “opened multiple cabinets and took scratch-off lottery tickets.” Then he fled to painstakingly check each ticket.

The good news? He had $7,000 worth of winners. But how do you redeem a stolen ticket?

Farley drove to a nearby 7-Eleven. The store wouldn’t have it. Perhaps because there was no record of the tickets being sold, it didn’t have to redeem them. Or perhaps it told Farley he needed to redeem them at the store where he “bought” them.

If at first you don’t succeed, try to redeem your stolen lottery ticket again

Whatever the reason, Farley drove right back to the scene of the crime, marched in, and announced that he wanted to redeem some lottery tickets. The same-day staff must have thought he looked awfully familiar. They told him he couldn’t redeem the tickets.

Farley was determined. He did the old “walk around the store and get back in line,” hoping a different staff member would take pity on him. But the answer was still no.

The Florida man had one more trick up his sleeve. He drove back to the 7-Eleven, put on a black mask, and walked inside with a fake gun. He held the clerk at gunpoint and had them empty the drawer. It contained $120. He grabbed a box of Newport cigarettes and escorted the clerk to the back of the store before leaving.

Police simply checked the security camera footage and found Farley had rolled up to both stores in his own Hyundai with license plates clearly visible. They pulled him over and charged him with commercial burglary and grand theft. He admitted to both robberies in a videotaped interview. As a result, he now also faces a federal charge of interference with commerce by threat or violence.