City man who forced Amazon Park standoff gets suspended sentence

Ryan Cortina (Rochester Police photo)

DOVER - The Rochester man who forced a nine-hour standoff with police at his Amazon Park home in April pleaded guilty and was given a suspended sentenced in the incident on Tuesday at Strafford County Superior Court.

Ryan Cortina, 30, of 105 Whitehouse Road, Lot, 83, was sentenced to one and a half to three years in prison, all suspended for three years on his good behavior and following all instructions from corrections officials.

Cortina was originally arrested on nine charges: 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 assault x 5, false imprisonment and criminal mischief.

The April 19 standoff at Amazon Park brought together one of the largest contingents of law enforcement in the Northern Seacoast in recent memory, including SWAT and explosives teams and State Police.

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.

The standoff officially ended around midnight when a 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.

Part of the court order on Tuesday prohibited him having any contact with the domestic violence victim unless it was approved by the court.

Cortina was indicted on the reckless conduct charge in July, a charge that could've resulted in up to seven years in state prison.