New charge filed against Lelia Lake man

The Lelia Lake man charged in the July kidnapping case of a McLean resident now faces the additional charge of aggravated sexual assault.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said 37-year-old James Michael Brinkley received the additional charge last Wednesday while still in custody on the aggravated kidnapping charge. He was arraigned by County Judge Jack Hall, and bond on the sexual assault charge was set at $100,000.

Brinkley is now accused of raping a 32-year-old white female at his trailer house near Lelia Lake on July 28.

The new charge stems from the ongoing investigation of the kidnapping case that occurred on that same date. The woman in the case is no longer being identified because of the sexual assault charge.

The case began July 28 when a 52-year-old McLean man was reportedly kidnapped in Amarillo by two or possibly three subjects. He was bound and put in a white van which was later being driven through Clarendon, followed by the victim’s red Lincoln Navigator, which was driven by one of the suspects.

The vehicles then pulled off at Lowe’s Family Center in Clarendon about noon that day. There the McLean man managed to free himself, injure one suspect, and escape into the supermarket.

The man reported another person, a woman, was being held against her will. She was found later that day and reported being held at a residence near Lelia Lake by Brinkley.

The woman was subsequently arrested on drug charges.

Another suspect, John E. Arbukle, age 38, of Childress, was stopped by a Donley County Deputy the day after the kidnapping for a traffic violation last Tuesday and arrested on outstanding warrants.

Both Brinkley and Arbukle remained in custody Tuesday morning. The woman in the case has been released on bond.

The investigation in the kidnapping case is still ongoing. Blackburn says he expects additional charges will be filed soon in Amarillo.