Santa Maria Man Charged in 1994 Ventura County Case After Early Prison Release

A Cold Case Reopened — and a Santa Maria Arrest

A 77-year-old Santa Maria man who once served as a Los Angeles Police Department detective was arrested this week in connection with a 1994 kidnapping and sexual assault in Thousand Oaks — a case that prosecutors had shelved decades ago, believing the man would die in prison.

Michael Douglas Brambles was sentenced to more than a century in prison for robberies and sex crimes but was released decades early and is now back behind bars. He was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 12, in Santa Maria by a joint team of Ventura County District Attorney's Office investigators and Santa Maria police officers. Brambles was transported to Ventura County for arraignment proceedings and is currently being held on $2 million bail.

Before being transferred, Brambles was briefly booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail — a reminder that crimes reverberating across the region's borders can land squarely in local institutions. He has since been moved to Ventura County Jail, officials said, as reported by Noozhawk.

What Happened in Thousand Oaks in 1994

On April 19, 1994, a woman now identified only by her initials, 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.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Brambles is accused of entering Arabella Boutique as S.W. was closing the business, pointing a handgun at her, forcing her into a backroom, tying her hands behind her back, sexually assaulting her, and then stealing property from the business.

Brambles worked for the Los Angeles Police Department from 1971 until his retirement in 1994, including assignments in an organized crime intelligence unit and Hollywood vice, officials said. He had retired in March 1994 — just one month before he allegedly attacked S.W.

In 1996, an L.A. County jury convicted Brambles of 26 felony counts stemming from a four-month string of armed robberies and sexual assaults, and he was sentenced to 102 years in prison. With that sentence in place, Ventura County prosecutors ultimately decided not to pursue the separate Thousand Oaks case. "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 Erik Nasarenko said.

California's Elder Parole Law Changed Everything

Beginning January 1, 2018, inmates aged 60 and older who had been in prison for at least 25 consecutive years became eligible for California's Elderly Parole Program under Penal Code section 3055. The law granted prison inmates meeting that threshold the opportunity to seek early release, and Brambles benefitted from it — he was granted parole in 2020.

S.W. said at Thursday's press conference: "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."

The Ventura County Sheriff's office had been reviewing old cases for exactly these kinds of scenarios. The Thousand Oaks case later resurfaced as authorities worked through old sexual assault kits as part of a federal grant program. DNA evidence ultimately connected Brambles to the case.

At his parole hearing, Brambles had specifically denied committing any sexual offenses beyond those for which he was convicted in Los Angeles County, District Attorney Nasarenko said at the press conference.

The DNA Initiative Behind the Breakthrough

The arrest is the latest result of the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (VCSAKI), a federally funded program that has been systematically testing decades of unexamined evidence. VCSAKI is a countywide initiative to submit every untested sexual assault kit for DNA testing and investigate unsolved sexual assault cases. In December 2021, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office Forensic Services Bureau was awarded a $2.5 million grant from the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance to support this effort.

With the help of federal grant money, Ventura County law enforcement officials are using the latest DNA technology to reexamine 2,800 unsolved sexual assault cases in the county. The Brambles case is not the only cold-case success: testing also led to the identification of serial rapist Sean Patrick McNulty, who was linked to six rapes across Ventura County, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio dating back to 1982. To date, investigators and prosecutors on the VCSAKI team have made seven arrests and obtained five convictions.

Charges, Court Dates, and the Limits of the Law

Brambles faces charges of kidnapping to commit a robbery while using a firearm, and the complaint also alleges multiple aggravating factors, including that his behavior indicates a serious danger to society and that the crime involved notable violence.

There is one significant limitation on what prosecutors can pursue. Because the statute of limitations has expired on the sexual assault charges — a fact that S.W. addressed directly — Nasarenko said that because the Thousand Oaks attack was never prosecuted, a new case can still be filed, but with that limitation. Only the kidnapping charge moves forward. If convicted on all charged counts, Brambles faces a maximum sentence of 12 years to life in state prison.

"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. Brambles made his first court appearance Friday but his arraignment was continued to September 11, according to Ventura County officials. He is currently held without bail.

For any individuals who believe they may have been a victim of Brambles in a previously unreported crime, the Ventura County DA's Office urges them to contact D.A. Investigator Mike McManama at 805-477-1652.