After hung jury, man will be retried for attempted murder of a Pismo Beach police officer
This story was originally published Sept. 25, 2024. To see our latest coverage of the trial, check out our story here.
The man accused of aiming a gun at a Pismo Beach police officer’s head during a traffic stop will be retried for attempted murder after a jury deadlocked following roughly four days of deliberations.
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.
On Wednesday, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office moved to retry the two charges.The trial date is set for Nov. 12, court records show.
San Luis Obispo County Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth confirmed to The Tribune the jury was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of a guilty verdict.
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.
Ammons was accused of attempting to murder Pismo Beach police Officer Chris Siglin during a traffic stop on April 15, 2022, court documents say.
Body camera footage played in court showed 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.
Ammons will remain in San Luis Obispo County Jail custody until at least the next hearing, which is scheduled for Nov. 6, court records show.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 5:38 PM with the headline "After hung jury, man will be retried for attempted murder of a Pismo Beach police officer."
