A Yorba Linda father has been charged with felony child endangerment and abuse and misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor after his 12-year-old son was critically injured when he ran a red light and was hit by a car while illegally riding an E-motorcycle, which he and his father had unlawfully modified. The boy was given the E-motorcycle as a Christmas present. He had already had his e-Motorcycle impounded once before the July 2025 collision that left him with a fractured skull, an intercranial bleed and several other broken bones.
Richard John Eyssallenne, 39, of Yorba Linda, pleaded not guilty today to one felony count of felony child endangerment and abuse and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison if convicted on all counts.
“E-motorcycles are not child’s play, and we are not playing around in Orange County when it comes to the safety of our children,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “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. This 12-year-old boy is lucky to be alive, and the driver who hit him will have to live with the horror of seriously injuring a child through no fault of his own. 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.”…