Injured motorcycle cop recovers
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

A Lost Hills sheriff's deputy injured while riding a motorcycle March 2 in Calabasas was released from UCLA Medical Center last Friday.

Mike Ranes, 40, collided with an SUV driven by Cynthia O'Leary of West Hills when her vehicle pulled in front of him as she left the driveway between Calabasas City Hall and Digital Insight, the private business next door. Ranes was headed west on Mureau Road when O'Leary pulled out, intending to drive eastbound.

"He was able to apply his brakes but unable to avoid the collision," said Detective John Caffrey at the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station.

Ranes suffered several broken bones but is expected to make a full recovery, according to Caffrey.

Ranes, a motorcycle officer who is assigned primarily in Calabasas, has been a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy for almost 15 years, the last several served at the Lost Hills station.

"He's very familiar with the city and traffic problems in the city of Calabasas," Caffrey said. "That particular day he was working speed enforcement on Mureau Road, as drivers do speed down that road."

O'Leary suffered minor injuries.

The collision occurred around 4:30 p.m., just over an hour after another officerinvolved crash took place in Malibu.

At around 3:10 p.m., Dep. David Diestel's vehicle was rear-ended while he was westbound on Pacific Coast Highway just west of Latigo Canyon Road.

Diestel was treated for a cut on his head and released; he is back at work at the Lost Hills station. The other driver was not injured.

Caffrey called the deputies' same-day collisions "somewhat unusual."