Ex-detective who served fraction of 102-year sentence faces new charges after cold case review
A former Los Angeles vice detective who was sentenced to 102 years in prison three decades ago for multiple rapes but paroled in 2020, because of a California law was arrested again this week, authorities said.
Michael Douglas Brambles, 77, is charged with kidnapping to commit robbery while personally using a firearm in connection with an alleged robbery and sexual assault, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
He also faces several aggravating circumstances, "including that the crime involved great violence, the victim was particularly vulnerable, the manner in which the crime was carried out indicated planning, sophistication or professionalism, and that Brambles engaged in violent conduct indicating a serious danger to society," the district attorney’s office said.
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Brambles allegedly entered Arabella’s Boutique in Thousand Oaks, California, when a woman identified as SW was closing, pointed a handgun at her, and forced her into the backroom where he tied her hands behind her back and sexually assaulted her.
He is also accused of stealing from the business before he left.
The sexual assault allegations cannot be charged because the statute of limitations has passed.
Shortly after the crime, Brambles was identified as a suspect, but he was already being prosecuted for a string of robberies and sexual assaults.
He was convicted on 26 counts, including 18 armed robberies and multiple sexual assaults.
After being sentenced to 102 years, SW’s case was dismissed, which she agreed with, believing he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
But he was able to apply for parole in 2020 under a California law that allows elderly inmates to apply.
At his parole hearing, Brambles denied sexually assaulting any women besides the cases he had already been convicted for in Los Angeles County.
While examining SW’s cold case as part of the federal Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, Ventura County District Attorney’s Office investigators realized he had been paroled.
Brambles was arrested on Wednesday and is being held in Ventura County on $2 million bail.
"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 that he had been out of prison for six years," SW said at a press conference this week. "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. I am thankful to have this opportunity now to seek justice for myself and for his other victims."
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Brambles faces a maximum sentence of 12 years to life if convicted.
"Without her courage, bravery and resolve to once again face the person who allegedly attacked her, we would not be here today," District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said of SW at the press conference. "Despite the passage of time and the long road ahead, SW is committed to seeing Michael Brambles held responsible for these violent accusations from 32 years ago, and so are we."