Orange County Father Faces Felony Charges After Son Suffers Critical Injuries on Illegally Modified Electric Motorcycle

Richard Eyssallenne faces felony charges after his son was critically injured on an e-bike modified to reach 60 mph in Yorba Linda.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 4, 2026, 4:06 AM EST

Source: The information in this article was sourced from CBS News Los Angeles

The Legal Consequences of Dangerous Customization

A 39 year old father from Yorba Linda, Richard John Eyssallenne, has entered a plea of not guilty to a series of criminal charges including felony child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The legal action follows a severe July 2025 collision that left his 12 year old son with life threatening injuries, including an intracranial bleed and multiple broken bones. According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the incident was the direct result of allowing a child to operate a vehicle that had been stripped of its safety governors and modified to function as a high speed motorcycle.

Evidence of Intentional Safety Bypass

Investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department conducted a detailed inspection of the vehicle involved, a 2024 Talaria XXX, and discovered that the manufacturer’s safety features had been deliberately compromised. The factory installed governor, designed to cap speeds at 20 miles per hour, had been re-routed to a manual key switch, allowing the young rider to reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. Furthermore, the motor’s output had been pushed to a peak of 5,000 watts, nearly seven times the legal 750 watt limit for standard electric bicycles, effectively reclassifying the machine as a motor driven cycle under California law.

A History of Prior Warnings and Citations

The District Attorney’s office emphasized that the family was well aware of the legal and physical risks prior to the crash. Records indicate that the 12 year old had received a formal citation and had his vehicle impounded months before the nearly fatal accident. In an effort to address these issues, the father had even attended an E-Bike Safety Presentation hosted by Yorba Linda Police Services in early 2025. Despite these educational interventions and the prior seizure of the bike, the high powered motorcycle was returned to the child’s possession, leading to the eventual red light violation that caused the collision.