OC Dad Charged After Son Hurt While Illegally Riding Modified E-Motorcycle, DA Says

YORBA LINDA, CA — An Orange County father was charged after his 12-year-old son was critically injured while illegally riding an e-motorcycle that he and his dad had unlawfully modified, county prosecutors said.

According to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, the man's son apparently ran a red light while riding the e-motorcycle and was hit by a car.

Richard John Eyssallenne, 39, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one felony count of child endangerment and abuse and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Eyssallenne faces a maximum of six years in state prison if convicted.

The child was given the e-motorcycle as a Christmas gift and already had it impounded once before the July 2025 crash, Spitzer 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," Spitzer said in a statement. "This 12-year-old boy is lucky to be alive and the driver who hit him will have to live with that horror of seriously injuring a child through no fault of his own."

The crash happened on July 20, 2025 at around 2 p.m., when Orange County Sheriff's deputies were called to the intersection of Via Lomas De Yorba West and Palma Avenue for a crash involving a rider who was hit by a Honda Civic driving eastbound on La Palma.

A car driving behind the Honda captured the crash as the Honda attempted to avoid the child on the e-motorcycle, who had run the red light and drove into oncoming traffic, Spitzer said.

The rider, later identified as Eyssallenne's 12-year-old son, suffered a concussion, an intercranial bleed, skull fracture, a broken wrist and a fractured femur.