Former LAPD detective charged in 1994 Thousand Oaks kidnapping

Former Los Angeles Police Department detective Michael Douglas Brambles has been charged with felony kidnapping in connection with a 1994 robbery and attack in Thousand Oaks, California. Prosecutors allege that on April 19, 1994, Brambles entered the Arabella Boutique, pointed a handgun at a female employee identified as S.W., forced her into a backroom, and tied her hands before stealing property.

While Brambles is accused of sexually assaulting the victim during the incident, he faces no charges for that specific act because the statute of limitations has expired. He is, however, facing charges of kidnapping to commit robbery while using a firearm.

Brambles, 77, was previously sentenced to 102 years in state prison in 1996 for separate crimes in Los Angeles County. The Ventura County case was previously dropped due to his existing sentence, but authorities revisited the matter following a sexual assault kit initiative and the discovery that Brambles had been released from custody under California’s parole laws for elderly inmates. He was arrested in Santa Maria on Wednesday.