Kidnapping suspects are indicted

A Donley Grand Jury returned indictments last Monday, November 10, against two men in a kidnapping case that shocked Clarendon this summer.

James Michael Brinkley, age 37, of Lelia Lake was indicted on charges of Aggravated Kidnapping and Sexual Assault, according to information from District Attorney Luke Inman’s office.

Brinkley allegedly assaulted a 32-year-old female on July 28, the same day he in participated in the kidnapping of a McLean man.

Thirty-eight-year-old John E. Arbukle of Childress was also indicted on charges of Aggravated Kidnapping, according to papers filed in the Donley County Clerk’s office.

The indictments stem from arrests made this summer when a 52-year-old McLean man was reportedly kidnapped in Amarillo by two or possibly three subjects. The victim was reportedly 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. He reported another person, the 32-year-old female, was being held against her will. She was found later that day and reported being held at a residence near Lelia Lake by Brinkley. She was subsequently arrested on drug charges and later released on bond.

Arbukle, who was also a suspect in the case, was later stopped by a Donley County Deputy for a traffic violation and arrested on outstanding warrants.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday that Brinkley remains in the local jail and said that Arbukle is now in state custody.