Jury deadlocks in case against man accused of trying to murder Pismo Beach police officer

The jury who heard the case against the man who allegedly pulled a gun on a Pismo Beach police officer during a traffic stop could not decide whether the man attempted to kill the officer.

The trial against 48-year-old Charles Ammons ended Friday with a hung jury on two counts: attempted murder and obstructing or resisting an officer. The jury did find Ammons guilty of assault on an officer with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded firearm and carrying a concealed firearm — all felonies — and two misdemeanor DUI charges and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

A total of eight sentencing enhancements were also found true, including for the use of firearm, having previous DUI convictions in the past 10 years, this being the third DUI offense in 10 years and having a blood alcohol content above 0.2.

Ammons was accused of attempting to murder Pismo Beach police Officer Chris Siglin during a traffic stop on April 15, 2022, court documents say.

According to body camera footage shown in court, Siglin first tried to stop Ammons for an illegal left turn in the 200 block of Pomeroy Avenue, but Ammons continued to drive slowly.

The officer drove up to Ammons’ window, identified himself as a police officer and told him to pull over. Ammons kept driving, so the officer pulled his motorcycle in front of the van to stop him.

When the officer opened Ammons’ door, Ammons pointed a semiautomatic pistol at Siglin’s head, the video showed.

Siglin tried to wrestle the gun away, the video showed, and Ammons allegedly pulled the trigger during the struggle.

The ammunition had been loaded backwards, so the gun did not fire.

The officer struck Ammons with a taser twice, yanked him out of the van and pinned him to the ground before arresting him, the video showed.

Whether or not Ammons pulled the trigger was the key argument in both the prosecution’s and defense’s closing arguments.

The prosecution argued that pointing a gun at someone’s face indicated an intent to kill and said the clicking heard in the video was Ammons pulling the trigger.

But Ammons’ attorney told jurors the click heard in the video could have been from another source, including equipment clanging together on the officer’s utility belt.

Ultimately, the jury could not decide whether Ammons intended to kill Siglin during the traffic stop.

San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Crystal Seiler is scheduled to make a ruling Wednesday on what happens next in the case.

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