Mission Viejo Man Suspected Of Shooting At Off-Duty Officer

MISSION VIEJO, CA — A Mission Viejo resident suspected of shooting in the direction of an off-duty police department employee on the Ortega Highway is under arrest, the California Highway Patrol announced.

Keith Frederick Prante, 34, was taken into custody by the CHP at 8 a.m. Sunday at his Los Altos area home, jail records show. Prante remained jailed late Monday afternoon at Murrieta's Southwest Detention Center on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and brandishing a firearm. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Just after 7:45 p.m., Saturday, a San Bernardino Police Department employee was driving east on the Ortega Highway, just west of Decker Canyon Road, on the Riverside County side of the highway, a CHP spokesperson said.

That employee accused Prante of "firing shots" at his car for reasons that are not yet known, according to a preliminary report from the CHP's Temecula office.

Prante sped off, driving east toward Lake Elsinore. The victim was not struck, officials say.

The victim lost sight of Prante and continued driving east, in the same direction as his w0uld-be assailant, according to the CHP. He then noticed Prante's vehicle stopped on the right shoulder of the highway ahead of him.

The police employee paused, driving in advance of reaching Prante's car.

The victim has alleged that Prante "stuck a handgun out of the driver's side window" and reversed his vehicle towards him.

At that point, the police employee fired his handgun — "which he was legally allowed to possess" — toward Prante, the CHP said.

Prante fled toward Lake Elsinore, where Prante disappeared from view.

The victim also traveled down SR-74 into Lake Elsinore and called 911. He provided CHP with a vehicle license plate number, which was tracked to Prante. A command post was set up Saturday night, and a search for Prante ensued, the CHP said.

The next morning, Prante was captured at his Mission Viejo home.

According to jail records, Prante is due in court Wednesday at Murrieta's Southwest Justice Center.

Patch Editor Toni McAllister, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.