BATON ROUGE - Employees at a store on LSU's campus had to tackle a man to the ground after he allegedly tried to steal hundreds of dollars worth of ready-to-brew coffee.

According to the LSU Police Department, the incident happened Tuesday at the Matherne's Market near Tiger Stadium. Police said workers confronted Louis Hammond Jr., 55, after they spotted him trying to walk out the store with a garbage bag stuffed full of Community Coffee packages.

When a store manager approached Hammond, he reportedly remarked, "It's about to go down," and reached for his waistband. Officers soon arrived to find multiple workers wrestling with Hammond on the floor.

The employees later told investigators they feared Hammond was in possession of a firearm, but no gun was found. The alleged thief claimed he was "just talking" when he made the threat.

Officers said they recovered about $259 worth of merchandise inside the trash bag. Staff added that Hammond had tried to shoplift other items from the store twice in the same week. Workers told police he previously tried to steal two bottles of wine worth $35 and about $500 worth of Tide Pods.

Hammond initially gave officers a false name, but they were later able to determine his actual identity.

He was booked on charges of theft, simple assault and resisting by false information.