KFMB-TV Ch. 8 sports director Kyle Kraska was expected to return to work today to anchor the 5 and 6:30 p.m. sportcasts, four weeks after being shot and seriously wounded in the driveway of his Scripps Ranch home. Kraska announced his imminent return to the local CBS affiliate via Twitter, saying, “The healing continues … Do you believe in miracles?” Kraska, 48, was shot just after 3 p.m. Feb. 10 as he was backing his Mercedes-Benz out of his driveway in the 12000 block of Avonette Court, according to San Diego police. House painter Mike Montana, 54, is charged with premeditated attempted murder in the attack and is in custody in lieu of $750,000 bail. A preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant ordering Montana to stand trial is scheduled for April 30. An April 13 readiness conference is also scheduled for Montana, who faces nearly 38 years to life in prison if convicted. At the defendant’s arraignment last month, Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Zipp alleged Montana, who did painting work on the victim’s house and was involved in a financial dispute over the job, shot Kraska six times from several feet away, including twice in the upper body, with the intent to kill. “The evidence indicates that this was a planned attack,” the prosecutor had said outside court. The gunfire left several windows blown out of Kraska’s auto. The victim was found lying face down on the pavement outside his car and was rushed to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. He was treated for his wounds and was released from the hospital Feb. 18. After hearing the gunfire, witnesses reported seeing an older-model white minivan with the words “Superior Painting” on the sides speeding off. Montana was tracked to his El Cajon home, where he surrendered to SWAT officers about seven hours after the shooting. Deputy Public Defender Kevin Milmoe told Judge David Szumowski that Montana had lived in El Cajon for 12 years. In addition to premeditated attempted murder with allegations that he caused great bodily injury and personally used a firearm, Montana is charged separately with making a verbal criminal threat to a woman last November, Zipp said.
