When the Hall County Sheriff's Office purchased an armored vehicle in August, SWAT Team members planned to use it to ensure officer safety during standoff situations.

That's exactly what happened early Wednesday morning when a Gainesville man locked himself in his home with officers outside negotiating for him to come out.

A 911 dispatcher received a call just after 3 a.m. concerning a domestic situation at the residence of Epitacio Huerta, 42, but the call was disconnected before the dispatcher could determine the extent of the situation.

It was later determined the caller was Huerta's wife, but when officers arrived she had already left. She received minor injuries but declined treatment.

After receiving the call, deputies responded to the residence on Mimosa Street near Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport. They saw a man inside the residence but were unable to convince him to open the door.

Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks with the sheriff's office said after deputies heard sounds indicating the suspect may be arming himself, they set up a perimeter around the residence and began negotiating with the man via loudspeaker and telephone.

That's when SWAT officers opted to bring in the multi-use Special Purpose Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and Explosive Rescue and Incident Response Vehicle, also known as Lencho BearCat Armored Vehicle.

It was the first call to action for the newest vehicular addition to the SWAT Team and officers used it for exactly what they intended.

"It was utilized (Wednesday) morning as a protected platform from which a member of the negotiating team communicated with the suspect via loudspeaker," Wilbanks said.

"This allowed him to not only get close enough to ensure that the communications were audible to the suspect, but also provided the SWAT team members a covered position that was close enough for rapid deployment," he added.

A bilingual negotiator, Deputy Anna Smith, was communicating with Huerta while he was inside the home and another bilingual deputy was inside the armored vehicle negotiating with a portable audio system, said Maj. Woodrow Tripp, who oversaw the negotiation.

"Ultimately, as a result of all of that we got him to come out," Tripp said.

When Huerta finally agreed to leave the house just before 8 a.m. he was charged with obstruction of an emergency call, misdemeanor obstruction of an officer, battery and cruelty to children in the third degree because a child was present during the battery.

Wilbanks said deputies later determined the man armed himself with a machete.

And while the suspect was not armed with a gun, authorities still believe the vehicle holds an important value to maintain officer safety.

"This is an excellent example of the value of the vehicle," Wilbanks said. "It provides a very effective tool to the sheriff's office to protect lives while facilitating a peaceful resolution to unknown and potentially dangerous situations."

"It provided a barrier to be able to put our people literally outside the door and ... it certainly provided ample safety," Tripp said.

Not only did the vehicle provide a safe means to negotiate from, but Tripp said it also presents and intimidating image to the suspect.

"It's presents an image to the person inside there that, ‘This is pretty serious. They've got an armored vehicle right outside my door,'" Tripp said.

Huerta was booked in the Hall County Jail and the incident remains under investigation by the Hall County Sheriff's Office, Criminal Investigations Division.