A former Los Angeles Police Department detective pleaded not guilty Friday, Sept. 11, to kidnapping a Thousand Oaks business owner at gunpoint 32 years ago.

Michael Douglas Brambles, 77, of Santa Maria, is charged with kidnapping to commit robbery while personally using a firearm, according to a Ventura County District Attorney's Office news release. He faces up to 12 years to life in state prison if convicted.

Brambles is scheduled for an early disposition conference Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 12 of the Ventura County Superior Court.

Prosecutors allege Brambles pointed a handgun at the victim, identified publicly only as S.W., as she was closing Arabella Boutique in Thousand Oaks on April 19, 1994. He allegedly forced her into a backroom, tied her hands behind her back, sexually assaulted her, then stole property from the business before fleeing, KEYT reported.

Brambles is not facing sexual assault charges because the statute of limitations has expired, according to the DA's office. The complaint does include a special allegation related to a sex offense involving use of a weapon.

Investigators identified Brambles as a suspect within months of the 1994 attack, but he was already being prosecuted in Los Angeles County for a crime spree involving armed robberies and sexual assaults, according to the DA's office. He was convicted of 26 counts and sentenced to 102 years in state prison.

Ventura County dismissed its local case with S.W.'s permission. She believed Brambles would remain in prison for the rest of his life, according to the DA's office.

Then he got out.

Brambles was released on parole in 2020 after serving 26 years of that 102-year sentence. DA investigators looking into the closed case discovered he had been released without ever facing charges for the alleged Thousand Oaks attack.

District Attorney investigators arrested Brambles on Aug. 12 in Santa Maria with assistance from the Santa Maria Police Department.

At an Aug. 13 press conference announcing the arrest, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said S.W.'s resolve made the case possible. S.W. appeared at that press conference and said investigators had contacted her months earlier.

"I was shocked to hear not only that this man was walking free, but that he had been out of prison for six years," S.W. said at the Aug. 13 press conference. "The justice that I and his other victims deserved was denied when he was only required to serve a fraction of the sentence he earned."

Senior Deputy District Attorney Emily Reber, a member of the DA's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit, is prosecuting the case. The complaint alleges aggravating circumstances including great violence, the victim's vulnerability and planning that indicated professionalism.

Residents with information related to the case can contact the Ventura County District Attorney's Office at (805) 767-3400.