CA: DAD CHARGED FOR MODIFYING SON'S E-BIKE
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ORANGE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — An Orange County father is facing child endangerment charges for a crash that left his 12-year-old son with significant injuries last year while he was riding an e-motorcycle.
The crash happened on July 20, 2025, when Richard John Eyssallenne’s son, now 13, ran a red light and was hit by a car while he was illegally riding an e-motorcycle that was unlawfully modified. Prosecutors say that he should have been at least 16 with a driver’s license to ride the vehicle, which is classified as an e-motorcycle and not an e-bicycle.
During court on Eyssallenne’s preliminary hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors shared jarring dash camera video of the crash, which shows the boy speeding through an intersection before colliding with a car and getting thrown into the air. The collision left him with a fractured skull and broken leg.
Eyssallenne now faces criminal charges of felony child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office alleges that he helped his son unlawfully modify the e-motorcycle to make it go faster. The bike in question is a 2024 Talaria XXX, which prosecutors say exceeds the maximum output of 750 watts. Instead, its peak output is somewhere around 5,000 watts, they said when filing charges in March.
Along with the power modifications, authorities also found that the manufacturer’s pedals with motorcycle pegs had been modified and were not fully operable and that the manufacturer-installed governor that limited the bike to 20 miles per hour had been rerouted to a key switch.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Orange County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Kiana Lewis testified. She was one of the first on scene when the crash happened in 2025. When asked if she contacted Child Protective Services in connection with the case, Lewis said she did.
“I felt that based off of all the information that I had, that they needed to be involved, because the same e-bike was involved in two separate incidences and it brought to my attention that maybe there wasn’t sound decision making,” Lewis said.
Prosecutors also said that Eyssallenne took his 12-year-old and 10-year-old sons to an e-bike safety presentation in early 2025, less than a month after the boy involved in the crash was cited for illegally riding the e-motorcycle.
Eyssallnene has pleaded not guilty to all charges and if convicted, he could face up to six years in prison, according to the DA’s Office.
On Wednesday, the boy, now 13, is expected to take the stand as a witness for the defense, despite a warning from a public defender that he could incriminate himself.
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