NOTE: Darene Brooks claimed all along he was innocent. On 3/21/2016 the charge of attempted aggravated kidnapping against him was dropped for insufficient evidence according to court records.
By James Clark
jclark@kamc.tv or jclark@klbk13.tv
LUBBOCK, TX — Court documents that became available Monday morning revealed new information about a kidnapping and rape case. The new records sharply contrast with the story Darene Brooks, 27, provided before he was arrested on Friday afternoon.
Brooks was charged with Aggravated Kidnapping according to both a police statement and court records. Online jail records indicated that charge was Attempted Aggravated Kidnapping.
On April 7, police released surveillance images from the Stripes convenience store, 202 50th Street, and said, “When officers arrived, they located a 12 year old female hiding in the bathroom who was claiming to have been abducted.”
People called police to say they recognized the man in the surveillance images as Darene Brooks. Brooks then called KLBK TV to say he was in fact the man in the surveillance video. He said he was innocent and wanted to talk about it for the KLBK News.
Brooks said he was jogging around Mae Simmons Park, when a young girl walked up to him asking for a ride.
“She was like ‘Can you give me a ride? Do you have a car?’” Brooks said. “I was like ‘Yeah I got a car. Where do you need a ride too?’ And she was like ‘Butler Park.’”
Brooks said he was thirsty after his run and wanted to get a bottle of water, and that’s why he stopped at Stripes.
The court records associated with Brooks’ arrest warrant do not resemble his story in any way, shape or form.
While at school during the lunch hour a teacher told a 12-year-old girl to go the nurse’s office for a cut on her arm. She will be referred to in this story as Jane Doe which is obviously not her real name.
“She returned to her classroom and nobody was there,” court records said. “Somebody told her the class went out in the gym.”
The court records said Jane Doe went out into through the parking lot to get from the classroom to the gym.
While going through the parking lot a suspect “came up to her from the side and grabbed her.” Jane Doe told police that the suspect forcibly put her in the front seat of his car and “took her to a place she had never been before.”
However, police on Monday afternoon said that in the time since the arrest warrant was filed, the girl recanted her story. She changed her story to say she had not been taken from school and made up that part of her story because she was afraid of getting in trouble. Police on Monday afternoon did not disclose the location from which the girl was taken.
“From their investigation, Lubbock ISD police and Lubbock police are confident the abduction did not happen at the school,” Lubbock ISD said in a written statement.
LISD also said, “The district would have notified parents if there had been something of that nature on a campus. Because there is an ongoing criminal investigation and out of concern for the child involved in this case, LISD has no further comment.”
In the court documents, Jane Doe described the suspect forcibly having sex with her against her will.
“[Jane Doe] advised [police that the suspect] told her he had to go to the bathroom,” which is why her drove to the Stripes convenience store.
The court records said while Brooks was inside the store, Jane Doe was seen on surveillance video sneaking out of the car and hiding. A medical examination later at University Medical Center revealed trauma consistent with sexual activity.
One of the officers who examined the surveillance video from Stripes wrote, “I did observe Darene Brooks walking or pacing inside the Stripes store next to the south window. He was speaking on the phone to an unknown subject.”
The officer also wrote, “[Brooks] then rapidly walked back to his vehicle. … Brooks enters his vehicle then drives though the parking lot slowly. It appeared to me Darene Brooks was looking for someone or something.”
Police also looked at surveillance video from the school and it showed Jane Doe in a hallway “looking around to see if anyone was watching her.”
“[Jane Doe] then walked out of the building doors,” court records said. Surveillance video from the school parking lot was not described.
Jane Doe later identified the suspect as Brooks through a photo lineup. Brooks provided a DNA sample for police and he agreed to talk to police. Brooks gave the police a similar story as what he provided to KLBK News.
Police downloaded the information from Jane Doe’s phone, but the court records did not say specifically if the phone contained GPS tracking information.
jclark@kamc.tv or jclark@klbk13.tv
LUBBOCK, TX — Court documents that became available Monday morning revealed new information about a kidnapping and rape case. The new records sharply contrast with the story Darene Brooks, 27, provided before he was arrested on Friday afternoon.
Brooks was charged with Aggravated Kidnapping according to both a police statement and court records. Online jail records indicated that charge was Attempted Aggravated Kidnapping.
On April 7, police released surveillance images from the Stripes convenience store, 202 50th Street, and said, “When officers arrived, they located a 12 year old female hiding in the bathroom who was claiming to have been abducted.”
People called police to say they recognized the man in the surveillance images as Darene Brooks. Brooks then called KLBK TV to say he was in fact the man in the surveillance video. He said he was innocent and wanted to talk about it for the KLBK News.
Brooks said he was jogging around Mae Simmons Park, when a young girl walked up to him asking for a ride.
“She was like ‘Can you give me a ride? Do you have a car?’” Brooks said. “I was like ‘Yeah I got a car. Where do you need a ride too?’ And she was like ‘Butler Park.’”
Brooks said he was thirsty after his run and wanted to get a bottle of water, and that’s why he stopped at Stripes.
The court records associated with Brooks’ arrest warrant do not resemble his story in any way, shape or form.
While at school during the lunch hour a teacher told a 12-year-old girl to go the nurse’s office for a cut on her arm. She will be referred to in this story as Jane Doe which is obviously not her real name.
“She returned to her classroom and nobody was there,” court records said. “Somebody told her the class went out in the gym.”
The court records said Jane Doe went out into through the parking lot to get from the classroom to the gym.
While going through the parking lot a suspect “came up to her from the side and grabbed her.” Jane Doe told police that the suspect forcibly put her in the front seat of his car and “took her to a place she had never been before.”
However, police on Monday afternoon said that in the time since the arrest warrant was filed, the girl recanted her story. She changed her story to say she had not been taken from school and made up that part of her story because she was afraid of getting in trouble. Police on Monday afternoon did not disclose the location from which the girl was taken.
“From their investigation, Lubbock ISD police and Lubbock police are confident the abduction did not happen at the school,” Lubbock ISD said in a written statement.
LISD also said, “The district would have notified parents if there had been something of that nature on a campus. Because there is an ongoing criminal investigation and out of concern for the child involved in this case, LISD has no further comment.”
In the court documents, Jane Doe described the suspect forcibly having sex with her against her will.
“[Jane Doe] advised [police that the suspect] told her he had to go to the bathroom,” which is why her drove to the Stripes convenience store.
The court records said while Brooks was inside the store, Jane Doe was seen on surveillance video sneaking out of the car and hiding. A medical examination later at University Medical Center revealed trauma consistent with sexual activity.
One of the officers who examined the surveillance video from Stripes wrote, “I did observe Darene Brooks walking or pacing inside the Stripes store next to the south window. He was speaking on the phone to an unknown subject.”
The officer also wrote, “[Brooks] then rapidly walked back to his vehicle. … Brooks enters his vehicle then drives though the parking lot slowly. It appeared to me Darene Brooks was looking for someone or something.”
Police also looked at surveillance video from the school and it showed Jane Doe in a hallway “looking around to see if anyone was watching her.”
“[Jane Doe] then walked out of the building doors,” court records said. Surveillance video from the school parking lot was not described.
Jane Doe later identified the suspect as Brooks through a photo lineup. Brooks provided a DNA sample for police and he agreed to talk to police. Brooks gave the police a similar story as what he provided to KLBK News.
Police downloaded the information from Jane Doe’s phone, but the court records did not say specifically if the phone contained GPS tracking information.
