Man attempts to kill Pismo Beach police officer, gets 27 year sentence

January 15, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

A judge this week sentenced a 50-year-old man to 27 years in prison for attempting to shoot and kill a Pismo Beach police officer while resisting arrest.

In November, a jury found Charles Nelson Ammons guilty of attempting to shoot and kill an officer while resisting arrest.

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.