Judge Declares Mistrial in Traffic Shooting by Ex-Officer : Courts: Jurors deadlock in favor of convicting Alan B. Ice of assault for wounding a driver during an argument on a Fountain Valley street.

A mistrial was declared Thursday after jurors deadlocked 8 to 4 in favor of convicting a former Long Beach police officer charged with shooting and wounding a driver during a traffic dispute.

Alan B. Ice, 46, of Fountain Valley showed little emotion as the Santa Ana Superior Court jury foreman told Judge Everett W. Dickey the panel had reached an impasse and that further deliberations were hopeless. Prosecutors will decide by Nov. 6 whether to retry Ice, who was off duty when the shooting occurred.

Ice faces felony charges of assault with a firearm and firing into an occupied vehicle in the Sept. 28, 1991, shooting of Santa Ana carpenter Neil Cramer, 37. Cramer was struck in the shoulder and suffered a punctured lung but has recovered from his injuries.

“We would have preferred a verdict that was an acquittal,” defense attorney John D. Barnett said outside the court, adding that his client was disappointed. Barnett said he would like prosecutors to dismiss the charges.

Jurors refused to detail the conflicts they encountered in their deliberations, but one juror said the mistrial was due to lack of evidence.

“There was just not enough evidence either way,” said the juror, who only identified himself as Don.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Clyde P. Von Der Ahe said later that jurors told him the deliberations became heated and emotional as they failed to reach a consensus on the charges.

Jurors were asked to decide whether the shooting was intentional or an accident, as Ice claimed. The 21-year veteran was fired from the police force for discharging his weapon “intentionally and without justification” during the incident.

Allegations of brutality against Ice were raised in 1981 when a study by the Long Beach Press-Telegram found that he was named in 15 citizens’ complaints--more than any other officer in the department.

During the trial, the prosecutor told jurors the shooting was the result of a “macho one-upmanship” game that began when the two men exchanged angry words and obscene gestures on a Fountain Valley street.

The incident started when Cramer swerved his camper truck into Ice’s lane to avoid a boy who had fallen off his bicycle. Ice honked at Cramer and the men began yelling at each other at a traffic light.

Ice told jurors he only grabbed his gun for protection after he saw Cramer reach for something--possibly a weapon. He was holding the gun when Cramer spat at his Jeep and started to drive away, Ice said.

The gun then accidentally discharged when a mechanical problem with his Jeep caused the vehicle to lurch forward, he said.

“It was an accident,” Ice told jurors, adding that he could not recall pulling the trigger.

Whether Cramer was armed or had attempted to arm himself became a key issue in the case. Prosecution witnesses, including Cramer’s girlfriend, Elaine Lara, and his 12-year-old daughter, Autumn, who witnessed the shooting, provided differing statements on that point.

Lara has filed a civil suit against Ice seeking damages to cover Cramer’s hospital bills, which total more than $50,000.