Police Use Chemical Munitions to End Portland Motorhome Standoff

A 39-year-old Portland man was arrested early Sunday after a nearly two-hour standoff with police, during which he threatened officers with a gun and wielded multiple weapons, authorities said.

Shortly after 5 a.m. on Sunday, Portland Police observed a motorhome illegally parked and blocking traffic in the area of Elm and Lancaster streets in the city’s Bayside neighborhood.

When officers attempted to contact the occupant, the man allegedly threatened to produce a gun and locked himself in the motorhome’s bathroom, police said.

Efforts to persuade the man to exit were unsuccessful, prompting officers to deploy pepper balls into the vehicle. The individual remained inside, and the department’s Special Reaction Team and Crisis Negotiators were called to the scene.

During the standoff, the occupant was observed wielding a large knife and a box cutter and threw a hammer at officers, police said. Additional pepper balls were deployed but failed to compel him to exit.

After nearly two hours of negotiations, chemical munitions were used, and at 7:37 a.m., the occupant surrendered and was taken into custody.

The motorhome’s occupant, 39-year-old Ryan Adams of Portland, was taken to Cumberland County Jail and was charged with criminal threatening, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, refusing to submit to arrest or detention, obstructing a public way and creating a police standoff.