BATON ROUGE - A criminal's plot to rob several tenants at a Baton Rouge apartment complex by pretending to have a gun in his pocket backfired when the residents realized he was completely unarmed. 

The Baton Rouge Fire Department says 45-year-old Reginald Millican's plan involved pulling a fire alarm at the Port Royal apartments on Airline Highway and then robbing the panicked tenants as they exited their apartments.

The department said Millican approached the residents with his hands in his pockets, motioning as if he had a gun in his pants. When they realized Millican was unarmed, the tenants turned the tables on their attacker, beating him up and detaining him until law enforcement arrived. 

Millican was taken to a hospital for an evaluation and then booked into the East Baton Rouge jail on charges of terrorizing and fire prevention interference.