A request for deputies to check on the welfare of a Caldwell County man led to a four-hour standoff with a SWAT team standing by in case they were needed.
A call came into the Caldwell County 911 Emergency Dispatch Center at about 11:30 a.m. asking that someone check on Lonnie Joe Hatley, 50, of 3595 Clarks Chapel Road in the southwestern area of the county, according to authorities.
When deputies arrived, Hatley told them he didn't want to speak with them and he wanted to harm himself, said Caldwell County Sheriff Alan Jones.
Jones said the SWAT team was called to the home, as is standard procedure for cases in which armed suspects refuse to cooperate with law enforcement.
The command post was set up at the intersection of Clarks Chapel and Smoky Creek roads. The road was crowded with emergency vehicles and patrol cars. Neighbors peered into the wooded area that screened Hatley's home from the road.
Clarks Chapel Road was closed to traffic, and troopers re-routed vehicles along alternate routes through neighborhoods composed mainly of mobile homes and modular houses.
For the next three hours, deputies spoke with Hatley and he communicated with friends and family.
Eventually, Hatley agreed to put down his double-barreled shotgun and come out of the house peacefully.
"We did not want to force his hand or make him do anything he did not want to do," said Jones. "Sometimes, when you're negotiating, it takes time."
Hatley spoke to deputies and the sheriff and, at about 3:45 p.m., he was transported to Caldwell Memorial Hospital for a psychological evaluation, said Jones.
Jones was pleased with the standoff's outcome. "That's the way I like for them to end — peacefully — with no shooting," he said.
Hatley has not been charged in the standoff and Detective B.J. Fore of the Caldwell sheriff's office said no charges will be considered before Hatley's evaluation.
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