Dramatic Video: Man Turns Self in at Coachella Standoff
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A standoff ends in Coachella when the suspect turns himself into police. But he didn't walk out from the house, instead our dramatic video shows the man walking up to police outside the perimeter to turn himself in. Video by kmir6.com
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A standoff ends in Coachella when the suspect turns himself into police.
But he didn't walk out from the house, instead our dramatic video shows the man walking up to police outside the perimeter to turn himself in.
John Paul Cortina walks over to police from across the street.
He turns himself in as his family cries and embraces him.
"He was going to jail and he's getting blamed for something he didn't do, and we might not be able to see him again," said Ruby Bustamante, John Paul's cousin.
It was quite the amazing scene which started when a car pulled up, two men walked out of it, and then they told us that this was the man that police were looking for, proceeded to walk down the sidewalk and turned himself in.
Just before three Wednesday afternoon police went to a home in Coachella off Tyler Street, Indio Police say John Paul Cortina is wanted for a drug warrant and other possible crimes.
"We set up a perimeter, the officers attempted to make contact with Mr. Cortina in the residence, he refused to come out, they knew that somebody was in there," said Ben Guitron with the Indio Police Department.
The sheriff's department came to help... SWAT vehicles and dozens of officers surrounded the house.
But Cortina's family say none of that was necessary.
"They didn't have to bring all this and block down all the streets, they could have just searched like they said they were right, and we told them that my cousin wasn't in the house, John Paul wasn't in the house, that he had left, and they didn't believe us, so they were all like we're going to do what we have to do," said Bustamante.
Cortina's family says he was not in the house, and approached police because he was worried about his 16-year-old cousin who was in the house.
Police say he may have maneuvered a way out of the house.
"Well obviously that's what initially started this was that he was inside the household, obviously if we had known that he was not in the household we would not have gotten to this extent we did right now," said Guitron.
Police lead Cortina away, as his family watched in tears.
The standoff lasted about five hours.
Police arrived at three, and Cortina turned himself in outside the house at 8pm.
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