Amazon Park standoff suspect released from hospital, facing extradition back to NH

Ryan Cortina (Rochester Police photo)

PORTLAND, Maine - The Rochester man who forced a nine-hour standoff with police when he refused to emerge from his Amazon Park mobile home earlier this month was released from a Portland hospital on Thursday and is awaiting extradition back to New Hampshire to face charges in connection with the incident.

Ryan M. Cortina, 30, 105 Whitehouse Road, Lot, 83, had been transported directly to Maine Medical Center suffering from an undisclosed ailment after police took him into custody shortly before midnight on April 19.

Police have stated Cortina's health emergency did not come at the hands of the police. He had been listed in serious condition as of earlier this week. He was released into the custody of Maine law officials and is presently being held at the Cumberland County Jail pending court extradition hearings there.

Once Cortina is extradited back to New Hampshire Rochester Police will charge him with: felony possession of an infernal machine (for allegedly possession an instrument or device and Cortina not being of police, fire, or military personnel) and reckless conduct (for allegedly having materials to blow up the trailer) as well as misdemeanor charges for domestic violence, false imprisonment and criminal mischief.

Last Thursday's standoff at Amazon Park brought together one of the largest contingents of law enforcement in the Northern Seacoast in recent memory.

The standoff began a little after 3 p.m. when Cortina, who was sought for questioning regarding an alleged domestic assault earlier in the day, refused to come out of his mobile home and began barricading his doors and windows with furniture and other items, Rochester Police Capt. Jason Thomas said the day after the incident. Thomas also said one of the responding officers saw Cortina had a weapon, which intensified the police response.

Within minutes more police arrived and ambulances and firetrucks staged nearby waiting for the go-ahead to tend to any potential victims, but it would many hours before they would get the "all clear."

Meanwhile, narratives from the police log show dispatchers were told from the person who initially called in the incident said Cortina had stated he had his house "rigged with a bomb."

Later dispatch notes "he states he turned on all the propane tanks and will blow the place up," "has been using drugs" and "has lots of knives."

At that point, just minutes into the standoff, police set up a 30-foot perimeter and also called Somersworth PD to ask them to "stop and hold" the suspect if they see him on their side of the line.

Police then use a bullhorn to urge Cortina out of the house.

A standoff negotiator is then summoned from Durham and police set up a command post at the entrance to the park.

As the suspect then continues to barricade himself further, SWAT team members placed a Bearcat, a heavily fortified SWAT vehicle, in front of the mobile home.

Soon after that, the suspect lighted several firecrackers and threatened to throw firecrackers at responders. He also partially opened a glass door, held a bottle of pills in his hand and tried to converse with police.

Officers at the time noted he has blood on his arm, and soon after that, an "Immediate Action Plan" was requested to be put in place.

The Police Log narrative then indicates the subject had become more erratic and was trying to converse with officers, who couldn't hear him.

While narratives aren't time-stamped, the last notation referring to the subject, himself, reads, "subject hasn't been seen in a while."

The standoff officially ended around midnight when the Bearcat was used to stave in the entrance of Cortina's mobile home.

After the entrance was breached State Police used a robot from their Explosive Disposal Unit to enter the residence and scan the premises for the suspect, after which police entered and took him into custody without incident.