Former LAPD detective freed from prison, arrested again, Ventura DA announces
The Ventura County sheriff and district attorney announced the arrest of Michael Douglas Brambles for a 1994 alleged attack on a woman, after he was convicted for similar crimes but was granted parole and released from prison in 2020.
The former Los Angeles Police Department detective had retired in March 1994, just one month before he allegedly attacked a victim referred to only as S.W., to protect her anonymity.
Brambles, 77, was convicted in 1996 in Los Angeles County for 18 separate armed robberies and multiple violent sexual assaults.
He was originally sentenced to 102 years in prison for the crimes, leading Ventura County officials to dismiss their case regarding victim S.W., assuming he would never be released.
"Based on the law and that 102-year sentence, a decision was made by our office in 1998 to dismiss our outstanding case because there was no practical or useful purpose in pursuing a separate prosecution against someone who we expected would spend the rest of his life behind bars," Ventura County District Attorney Eric Nazarenko said at a Thursday news conference.
The law changed in 2018. A new California law granted prison inmates over the age of 60 who had served 25 years of continuous incarceration the opportunity to seek elder parole. Brambles benefitted from the new law and was granted parole in 2020.
"A few months ago, when investigators from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office contacted me, I was shocked to hear not only that this man was walking free, but he'd been out of prison for six years," S.W. said during Thursday's news conference.
On April 19, 1994, S.W. was working alone at her Thousand Oaks gift shop when she was confronted by an armed suspect. "What followed was a violent and traumatic attack that changed her life forever," Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said.
A review and retest were done of S.W.'s sexual assault kit that had been preserved from 30 years ago. Modern DNA technology linked Brambles to the crime, and he was arrested yesterday in Santa Maria for robbery, kidnapping, and rape.
"We could not charge Brambles with the sexual assault due to the statute of limitations, but evidence collected from the crime scene 32 years ago was instrumental in identifying S.W.'s alleged attacker and bringing us to today's arrest and prosecution," Nazarenko said.
"I am thankful to have this opportunity to now seek justice for myself and for his other victims. I am here on behalf of other victims of sexual assault to let them know that they are not alone and that they matter."
Brambles is in jail, being held on $2 million bail.
