Man convicted of attempting to kill Pismo Beach police officer

November 21, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

A jury today found a 50-year-old man guilty of attempting to shoot and kill and Pismo Beach police officer while resisting arrest. Charles Nelson Ammons is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12.

Ammons first trial ended in a hung jury in September, with the jury split 11-1 for guilty. If all 12 jurors can’t unanimously agree on whether someone is innocent or guilty, the jury is deadlocked.

With charges pending from another arrest, an intoxicated Ammons was driving his van on Pomeroy Avenue on April 15, 2022 when a Pismo Beach policeman attempted to pull him over for a code violation. When officer Chris Siglin opened the van’s driver side door, Ammons pointed a semiautomatic pistol at Siglin’s head and pulled the trigger, but the gun malfunctioned because the ammunition was loaded in backwards.

At the time of the traffic stop, Ammons’ blood alcohol level was .218 percent, more than two times the legal limit. With DUI arrests in 2013 and 2016, this was Ammons’ third.

After the gun malfunctioned, Siglin and Ammons struggled and fell into the back of the van.