CHP OFFICER DIES AFTER CRASHING HIS SPORTS CAR.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS -- The California Highway Patrol was mourning another death of one of its own Wednesday, the seventh killed in a highway-related crash in less than a year.

Derek Midollo, 39, of Oak Park, a training officer with the CHP's West Valley station in Woodland Hills, died Tuesday after crashing his silver 1993 Ferrari Testarossa as he drove down Cornell Road near Mulholland Drive in Agoura Hills. Friends say he recently bought the car after saving up.

``He served the community really well,'' CHP Officer Leland Tang said of Midollo, an 11-year veteran of the department. ``He was admired. ... He affected and touched everyone at this office.''

Midollo was driving at an undetermined speed when he lost control of the car and it hit a telephone pole, Tang said. A vehicle analysis to determine any mechanical defects is under way.

Midollo's passenger, David Bjorklund, 30, of Chicago also was killed. The two apparently were friends who served together in the Navy, Tang said.

A preliminary investigation found that the Ferrari swerved to the left across the northbound lanes, where it collided with a telephone pole and a large boulder, then flipped onto its roof.

Officers on the scene reported major damage to the roof and right side, and the telephone poll had crashed halfway through. Both Midollo and Bjorklund were wearing their seat belts, Tang said.

CHP spokesman Tom Marshall said the department was taking the death hard, and counselors were speaking with officers at the station.

``This has been one of the worst years in our history,'' Marshall said. ``Even though he was off duty, a death is a death.''

Midollo is survived by his wife, Diane, and his parents.

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

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