An elderly man, apparently upset after being told to remain behind a "social distance line" at a grocery store checkout register, was arrested after he intentionally coughed on an employee while in line at Wegmans in the Town of Niagara, police said.

A cashier at the Military Road store told a manager the customer started swearing at her and throwing items onto a grocery conveyor belt after she asked him to stay behind the social distancing line, town police officers reported.

The manager told the cashier to take a break and stepped in to cash out the man. He told police the customer remained confrontational during the incident on March 24 before "intentionally" coughing four times into his face.

Police said they later arrested Patrick J. Gilliam, 68, and charged him with menacing and harassment.

The manager told officers Gilliam directed vulgarities at him exclaimed after the coughs, "Ha, ha, I hope I get you sick!"

The manager and a store security officer followed Gilliam into the parking lot and copied his license plate number, police reported.

Gilliam, now banned from Wegmans, is scheduled to appear in court on May 14.