Speeding Driver Runs Down O.C. Man Who Shouted at Him

A 41-year-old father of three was run down and critically injured after he and two friends shouted at a driver speeding through a south Orange County shopping center parking lot, authorities said.

John Royston, a former assistant football coach at Santa Margarita High School who lives in Aliso Viejo, was in extremely critical condition with head and leg injuries at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The incident happened about 11:30 p.m. Thursday when Royston and two friends left a restaurant in the Aliso Viejo Town Center and saw a silver BMW speed through the parking lot and run a stop sign.

Royston and his friends yelled at the driver to slow down, but the BMW continued to speed, swerved and collided with a parked Mercedes-Benz before turning around and heading for the three men, Amormino said.

As Royston’s group reached their vehicle, the BMW sped toward them. One member of the group jumped out of the car’s path, but Royston was unable to evade the vehicle. The third man was not directly in danger.

“It all happened so fast,” said Dan Zeleznik, who works with Royston at a mortgage company. “The guy was going way over the speed limit. John just didn’t have time to move. It was a pretty senseless act.”

The driver of the BMW and one or two passengers fled, police said. Authorities found the car Friday afternoon in Mission Viejo with damage to its front end and windshield, but Amormino said no suspects had been identified.

“This was an intentional act,” Amormino said. “It was an assault with a deadly weapon, the car. The suspects are young. I’d advise them to turn themselves in.”

Royston played college football at the University of New Mexico and briefly in the Canadian Football League as a receiver. He coached at Santa Margarita for three seasons at the freshman, junior varsity and varsity levels, leaving in 2004 when he began working solely as a loan officer.

“He’s very knowledgeable in the game of football,” said John Rodriguez, who coached with Royston at Santa Margarita. “But he started liking the money in loans, so he decided to hang up football.”

Jim Hartigan, a former varsity football coach at Santa Margarita who hired Royston, said Royston was popular with his players.

“He was demanding,” Hartigan said. “But he was well-liked by our players and our parents.”

Royston and his wife, Arlene, have three children: Tiffany, 19; Nicole, 17; and J. J., 8.