An Orange County dad modified his son’s e-bike to go 60 mph; now he’s facing a felony, D.A. says

A Yorba Linda father is facing up to six years in state prison if convicted of felony and misdemeanor charges after his 12-year-old son was critically injured riding an e-bike that had been modified into an e-motorcycle, the Orange County district attorney announced Tuesday.

The boy had received the 2024 Talaria XXX as a Christmas gift and he and his dad illegally modified it to reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, prosecutors said. Richard John Eyssallenne, 39, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of child endangerment and abuse and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

On July 20, 2025, around 2 p.m., authorities say, the boy ran a red light at the intersection of Via Lomas De Yorba West and La Palma Avenue and was struck by a Honda Civic. A driver behind the Civic recorded the collision on video, according to the district attorney’s office. The boy was hospitalized with a concussion, an intracranial bleed, a skull fracture, a broken wrist and a fractured femur.

According to prosecutors, the boy had been cited in December 2024 for illegally riding the e-motorcycle, and the following month Eyssallenne brought both his sons to an e-bike safety presentation hosted by Yorba Linda police services, prosecutors said.

After the crash, a law enforcement inspection revealed the bike had been altered in three significant ways, prosecutors say. The factory pedals had been swapped out for motorcycle pegs, disqualifying it from being classified as an e-bike. The motor had a peak output of 5,000 watts, well beyond the 750-watt legal ceiling. And the manufacturer’s speed limiter had been disabled by cutting the wire and connecting it to a key switch, allowing the rider to push the bike to 60 mph.

“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,” said Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer.

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California law draws a clear line between e-bikes and e-motorcycles based on motor power, top speed and whether the bike has working pedals. Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes carry no age or licensing requirements while Class 3 requires riders to be at least 16.

Once a bike crosses those thresholds through design or modification it is treated as an e-motorcycle and subject to the same requirements as a traditional motorcycle: a valid license, registration, insurance and a license plate.

The e-bike that Eyssallenne and his son modified was considered an e-motorcycle.

“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,” Spitzer said in a news statement.

The Yorba Linda case is part of a wider surge of concern surrounding minors on electric bikes across Southern California.

Last week, Newport Beach police conducted enforcement operations around neighborhood schools for e-bike violations and issued dozens of citations, impounded three e-bikes and arrested two juveniles who fled on illegally modified e-motorcycles, the department said in a social media post.

In 2021, 12-year-old Molly Steinsapir died after losing control of an e-bike on a steep hill in Pacific Palisades, a tragedy that led her parents to sue the manufacturer and brought new scrutiny to how e-bike companies market their products to families with children.

Tensions over youth e-bike use have also been building in the South Bay, where a viral video of teens attacking a man near the Hermosa Beach Pier put a spotlight on unsafe and at times violent behavior by some young riders.

Police departments across the region have pointed to a pattern of speeding, red light violations and minors riding illegal electric motorcycles, and several cities have responded with new ordinances and stepped-up enforcement.