OAK PARK : Ex-LAPD Officer to Be Tried in Robberies

A former Los Angeles police detective, who already faced robbery and sexual assault charges in Ventura County, had been held for trial in a series of Los Angeles County robberies that began even before his official retirement last spring.

After a preliminary hearing at which a number of robbery victims identified Michael D. Brambles as their assailant, Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Mary E. Waters found sufficient evidence this week to proceed to trial on 23 counts against the onetime organized crime detective.

Brambles, 45, remains in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail, pending arraignment Dec. 27 in Superior Court.

Most of the robberies, which stretched from January to May, were at closing time at restaurants and shops around the Westside and San Fernando Valley. Store clerks described a lone gunman clad in a blue jeans jacket and baseball cap, and women at two of the locations said they were sexually assaulted.

Brambles’ attorney, Anthony Brooklier, argued that the identifications were flawed because the victims originally had given police widely divergent descriptions of the robber. Waters noted, however, that witnesses often give varying accounts.

In Ventura County, Brambles faces four counts filed last month that stem from an April 19 robbery in the Oak Park area, where a victim was allegedly sexually assaulted.