A former Los Angeles Police Department detective accused of kidnapping a Thousand Oaks boutique owner at gunpoint in 1994 faces his next court date Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Michael Douglas Brambles, 77, of Santa Maria is scheduled for an early disposition conference at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 12 of Ventura County Superior Court, according to the Thousand Oaks Acorn. Brambles pleaded not guilty on Sept. 11 to kidnapping to commit robbery while personally using a firearm.
The charge stems from an alleged attack more than 32 years ago. According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Brambles entered Arabella Boutique in Thousand Oaks on April 19, 1994, as the owner, identified by her initials S.W. to protect her privacy, was closing for the day.
Prosecutors allege he pointed a handgun at her, forced her into a back room, tied her hands, sexually assaulted her and stole property from the business. S.W. called 911 after Brambles left, and Ventura County Sheriff's deputies responded.
Brambles joined the LAPD in 1971 and worked in its Organized Intelligence Unit and Hollywood Vice Unit. He retired about a month before the alleged Thousand Oaks crime, according to the District Attorney's Office and the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
Ventura County authorities identified Brambles as a suspect within months. But while the local case was pending, he was arrested in Los Angeles in connection with a separate series of robberies and sexual assaults. He was convicted in Los Angeles of 26 counts, including 18 armed robberies and multiple sexual assaults, and sentenced to 102 years in state prison.
Ventura County prosecutors dismissed their case in 1998. They said there was little practical purpose in pursuing a separate prosecution because Brambles was expected to die in prison. The decision also spared S.W. from testifying again.
Brambles did not stay behind bars. He was released on parole in 2020 after serving about 26 years, having become eligible under California's Elderly Parole Program. That program requires parole suitability reviews for certain inmates age 60 and older who have served at least 25 consecutive years.
The Ventura County case resurfaced through the county's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which uses DNA testing to re-examine evidence from closed cases. During that review, investigators learned Brambles had been released.
Authorities obtained an arrest warrant on Aug. 11 and arrested Brambles the next day in Santa Maria with help from Santa Maria police. Bail was set at $2 million.
At an Aug. 13 news conference announcing the arrest, S.W. spoke publicly about learning Brambles was free.
"I was shocked to hear not only that this man was walking free, but he'd been out of prison for six years," she said.
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko and Sheriff Jim Fryhoff jointly announced the charges at that conference. Senior Deputy District Attorney Emily Reber, a member of the DA's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit, is prosecuting the case.
No defense attorney for Brambles has been identified in court records or public statements reviewed for this report.
Brambles is not charged with sexual assault because the statute of limitations has expired. In 1994, California law generally allowed six years to prosecute sexual assault. Kidnapping to commit robbery carries no statute of limitations, allowing prosecutors to pursue the charge more than three decades later.
If convicted, Brambles faces a maximum sentence of 12 years to life in state prison.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Brambles in a previously unreported crime can contact District Attorney Investigator Mike McManama at 805-477-1652.
