A Yorba Linda father is facing child abuse charges after his 12-year-old son was seriously injured in an e-motorcycle crash, involving an illegally modified e-motorcycle, the Orange County District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
The 39-year-old father pleaded not guilty to charges of felony child endangerment and abuse and a misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He would face a maximum of six years in prison if convicted on all counts.
The boy was gifted the e-bike for Christmas and it had been impounded previously after the boy received a citation in December 2024. The type of e-motorcycle the boy had, a 2024 Talaria XXX, is classified as a Class 3 e-motorcycle, which require riders to be a minimum of 16 years old and to have a motorcycle license. Following the citation, the boy, his father and younger brother attended a Yorba Linda Police Services e-bike safety course in January 2025, according to the district attorney’s office.
Six months later, the boy ran a red light while riding the e-motorcycle near Via Lomas De Yorba West and La Palma Avenue in Yorba Linda, and a Honda Civic struck him. The car had tried to avoid him, footage captured by another car showed, but he was hit and suffered a concussion, intercranial bleed, skull fracture, broken wrist and fractured femur, according to the District Attorney’s office. He was wearing a helmet, but it was unclear if it was properly secured, according to a district attorney’s spokesperson.
The Talaria XXX the boy was riding during the July 2025 collision had been illegally modified by the boy and his father, according to a law enforcement inspection of the e-motorcycle.
The e-motorcycle’s pedals had been replaced by motorcycle pegs and the motor was rated 750 watts, with a peak output of 5,000 watts, law enforcement found. The bike comes with a speed governor that limits the bike’s speed to 20 mph, but the boy’s e-motorcycle’s speed limiter wire was cut and replaced with a key switch, which allowed the speed-limiting mechanism to be bypassed. With these modifications, a rider could go up to 60 mph with a 5,000-watt motor, the district attorney’s office said.
Police say e-bikes and e-motorcycles are often mistaken for one another, but speed capabilities can vary greatly between the two types.
The bike does not qualify as an e-bike, but rather a motorcycle, the district attorney’s office said. To legally ride it, a valid motorcycle license for street operation, DMV registration, a license plate, insurance and full motorcycle equipment are needed, unless the e-motorcycle is being ridden on private property or registered Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) areas, the office said.
“There is absolutely no reason that an unlicensed, untrained child with no concept of the rules of the road should be riding a motorcycle that can go up to 60 miles per hour next to cars on a public street and think that by some miracle they are going to be safe,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “The Orange County District Attorney’s Office isn’t letting parents off with a warning. Let me make it clear: Parents who buy their child an E-motorcycle and let them ride them illegally or help modify eBikes to transform them into E-motorcycles are handing their children a loaded weapon – and those parents are going to be prosecuted”
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