Charges Recommended For Former Prison Chief Accused In Standoff

TEMPE, AZ — The Tempe Police Department recommended charges against former head of the Arizona Department of Corrections this week in connection to a standoff he's accused of having with Tempe police on Jan. 6.

Tempe police have recommended that Charles Ryan be charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer and unlawful discharge of a firearm, according to a news release from Tempe police. The Maricopa County Attorney's office will ultimately decide if Ryan is formally charged.

Ryan was not initially arrested after the standoff on Jan. 6, pending hospitalization for what police said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his hand.

Ryan was inside his house and armed with a gun Jan. 6 when police responded to a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Ryan's family left the home when police arrived, but Ryan remained inside, according to police. Family members were not harmed.
Ryan declined to speak with the police. Police said Ryan pointed a gun at officers from an open doorway inside the house. Police tried to persuade Ryan to come out of the house, but he did not, police said.

A Tempe police tactical team and negotiators eventually persuaded Ryan to come outside.
Ryan retired as the Arizona Department of Corrections director in 2019. His time as the head of Arizona prisons was fraught.

Among a slew of other issues, he was found in contempt of federal court for not following through on promises in a legal settlement to improve health care for prisoners and he was criticized in the 2009 heat-related death of prisoner who was left for nearly four hours in an unshaded outdoor holding cell in temperatures that rose above 100 degrees, according to the Associated Press.