GUILDERLAND — Police here worked with their counterparts in Baton Rouge to arrest a man in Louisiana who left a disturbing — but, as it turned out, hollow — message last weekend with the Albany Times Union.

“The individual indicated he was going to bring ‘a militia’ to Crossgates Mall and used several racial slurs,” said a Dec. 31 press release from the Guilderland Police, adding, “His threat was determined to be fictitious and no actual threat to the mall.”

The Guilderland Police Department, which received report of the call on Monday, conducted an investigation, it said, and identified a suspect, Gary M. Grzybowski, 66, of 6728 Pikes Lane, Louisiana.

The Times Union reported that its phone system had recorded Grzybowski’s number when he left his message on Friday.

Crossgates Mall has been in the spotlight this week, after a Christmas Eve brawl in a beef jerky outlet went viral. (See related story.) 

The Baton Rouge Police Department arrested Grzybowski, citing him for terrorizing. “It appears the suspect did not have direct access to weapons,” said the release, which commended the staff at the Times Union for “seeing something/saying something” by reporting the message to police for investigation.