Parent Charged for E-Motorcycle Risks

Orange County prosecutors have turned one Lake Forest collision into a test case for how far they will go in holding parents criminally responsible when children ride high-powered electric motorcycles. On May 1, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Tommi Jo Mejer of Aliso Viejo now faces an involuntary manslaughter charge after 81-year-old Ed Ashman died from injuries prosecutors say were caused by her 14-year-old son while he was riding an illegal e-motorcycle. (ocdistrictattorney.gov) Prosecutors allege the boy struck Ashman on April 16 near El Toro High School while doing wheelies, then fled. Mejer had already been charged with child endangerment and other counts before Ashman’s death, according to the district attorney. ### Who is charged, and what do prosecutors say she did? Tommi Jo Mejer, 50, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, felony child endangerment, felony accessory after the fact, and misdemeanor counts including contributing to the delinquency of a minor, loaning a motor vehicle to an unlicensed driver and providing false information to a peace officer, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. (ocdistrictattorney.gov) Prosecutors say she was repeatedly warned about allowing her son to ride the vehicle and still let him continue. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said the case is filed as 26HF1029. Prosecutors said Mejer was arrested on April 21 at the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange. ### What happened to Ed Ashman in Lake Forest? Ed Ashman, 81, was hit at about 4 p.m. on April 16 near Toledo Way and Ridge Route Drive in Lake Forest, according to prosecutors and local reports. (ocdistrictattorney.gov) Ashman was walking home from his job as a substitute teacher at El Toro High School when the collision happened, the district attorney said. Prosecutors said the rider was Mejer’s 14-year-old son and that he was doing wheelies on a Surron Ultra Bee e-motorcycle when he struck Ashman. Ashman died on April 30, and the district attorney upgraded the mother’s charges the next day to include involuntary manslaughter. (ocdistrictattorney.gov) ### Why are authorities calling the vehicle illegal for a child to ride? The Orange County District Attorney’s Office described the vehicle as a 2025 Surron Ultra Bee and said it was “16 times more powerful than an e-bike.” Prosecutors said the machine is an electric motorcycle, not a standard e-bike, and alleged the child was not legally allowed to operate it. (ocdistrictattorney.gov) That distinction matters because the criminal case is built around what prosecutors say the mother knew. District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the office’s releases that parents who allow children to ride illegal motor vehicles and endanger others will be prosecuted. (eyekonradio.com) ### Is this an isolated prosecution? Since January, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has filed child endangerment charges against three parents for allowing children to ride e-motorcycles illegally, according to the office’s April 22 and May 1 releases. (ocdistrictattorney.gov) One of those cases involved a Yorba Linda father whose 12-year-old son was critically injured after running a red light on a modified e-motorcycle, prosecutors said. Outside Orange County, the Orange County Register reported that Contra Costa County prosecutors charged a couple with misdemeanor child abuse after their 17-year-old son was severely injured in a Walnut Creek crash involving an e-motorcycle. (ocdistrictattorney.gov) Prosecutors there alleged the parents had ignored repeated citations and warnings, according to that report. ### What happens next in court? Mejer appeared in court on May 12, but her arraignment was postponed, according to MyNewsLA and local television reports. (ocdistrictattorney.gov) The district attorney’s office said she is scheduled to be arraigned on May 21 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach, Department H1. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Mejer faces more than seven years in prison if convicted on all counts after the amended filing. The next public milestone in the case is the May 21 arraignment in Newport Beach. (mynewsla.com) (ocregister.com) (ocdistrictattorney.gov)