Orange County father facing child endangerment charges for 2025 e-motorcycle crash involving 12-year-old son

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 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 incidents 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. 

His older son testified for the defense on Wednesday, insisting that he found a hidden key for the motorcycle, disobeyed his father by taking it out and cut wires on his own to modify the bike's speed regulator.

"I snuck out with my bike when I wasn't supposed to after I modified it," the boy said. "I wasn't supposed to also and I got hit by a car."

The judge said he didn't find the boy's testimony believable.

"This is well beyond ordinary negligence to allow a 12-year-old child this unfettered access to the bike because the reason reasonable people don't let 12-year-olds ride bikes like this is because it's entirely conceivable that they will be involved in accidents just like this," Judge Robert Flory said. 

Eyssallnene's attorney Mitchell Krems said he disagreed with the judge's assessment of the testimony.

"I think it's difficult for the general public to recognize when a gifted child is capable," Krems said. "I think it was almost overwhelming for the judge to hear exactly how he was able to modify the bike and this child is extraordinarily intelligent. So, we respectfully disagree with the judge."

The judge ruled that Eyssallnene's case will go to trial. The proceedings will begin on Sept. 9 in Santa Ana.