Driver in Hit-Run Case Denies Guilt

Showing little emotion, Morteza Bakhtiari pleaded not guilty Tuesday to intentionally running down a man in an Aliso Viejo shopping center last week.

Bakhtiari, 26, has been charged with attempted murder, hit-and-run driving and filing a false police report. The Costa Mesa resident could be sent to prison for life if convicted of all charges.

Joseph Cavallo, Bakhtiari’s attorney, said outside the courtroom that the victim, John Royston, 41, of Aliso Viejo, and his five companions -- authorities have said there were only two -- had threatened to kill Bakhtiari and threw a Pepsi can at his silver BMW when he honked at a van delaying him in the parking lot.

Bakhtiari sped away and hit a parked car. When Bakhtiari drove back to the car to check the damage, Cavallo said, Royston and his friends blocked the road. He said Bakhtiari ran over Royston while trying to escape.

“I suppose he could have stopped and proceeded to catch a beating from these six individuals, but that doesn’t make any sense to me,” Cavallo said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Simmons disputed Cavallo’s version of the incident.

Simmons said Cavallo’s account of Royston jumping in front of Bakhtiari’s car was false.

“That’s in direct contradiction to witness statements. What sane individual is going to put themselves in front of a moving car?” Simmons said.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies have said Bakhtiari intentionally ran down Royston after Royston yelled at Bakhtiari to slow down. After Bakhtiari struck the parked car, he spun around and sped toward Royston and his friends, according to the department.

Royston was thrown about 30 feet. He remains in extremely critical condition in a medically induced coma at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. Royston, a father of three, is a loan officer and a former coach at Santa Margarita High School.

Bakhtiari’s car was found in Mission Viejo. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Bakhtiari on Friday after he reported the car stolen.

Bakhtiari has been convicted twice of drunken driving and has been ticketed for speeding twice in the last year.

Royston’s wife, Arlene, flanked by family members, spoke briefly outside the courtroom Tuesday. “I’m outraged, very hurt and very upset,” she said. “There’s just no excuse for what this guy did.

“We’re just praying and hoping [my husband] makes it,” she said.

Bakhtiari is being held at Orange County Jail on $1-million bail.