e-motorcycle crash – An Orange County mother faced felony and misdemeanor charges after her 14-year-old allegedly struck and killed an 81-year-old with an e-motorcycle.
A mother in Orange County made her first court appearance Tuesday after prosecutors alleged her 14-year-old son struck and fatally injured an 81-year-old man while riding an e-motorcycle, and that she was warned the teen had been driving recklessly and was not legally allowed to ride it.
Tommi Jo Mejer, 50, appeared with attorneys Paul S. Meyer and Lolita Kirk at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach for an initial hearing tied to charges in the April crash, according to court records. The arraignment hearing was postponed to June 30.
Prosecutors allege the fatal incident occurred on April 16. after the teenager was spotted doing wheelies in the middle of a street.. They claim his target was 81-year-old Vietnam War veteran Ed Ashman. who was allegedly struck following the teen’s e-motorcycle ride.. Prosecutors say Ashman was taken to a hospital after the crash and later died on April 30.
Mejer faces multiple charges. including felony involuntary manslaughter and felony child endangerment. as well as a felony count of accessory after the fact to a crime.. Additional counts include misdemeanors for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. loaning a motor vehicle to an unlicensed driver. and providing false information to a peace officer.. Prosecutors said the potential prison exposure totals up to seven years and eight months if convicted on all counts.
Through her attorneys, Mejer did not comment directly in court but issued a brief statement. “Tommi Mejer is anguished over the terrible accident,” the statement said, adding that she sent “deepest condolences and sorrow” and that “it is premature to make any other statement.”
Prosecutors say the teen was riding a Surron e-motorcycle near Toledo Way and Ridge Route Drive in Lake Forest when he hit Ashman. They allege the teenager then fled the scene, setting up an investigation that included police contact with Mejer hours later.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies allegedly reached out to Mejer after the crash.. Prosecutors say she was recorded telling deputies that neither she nor her son owned a Surron or had access to one.. The filing. however. alleges a different history: that Mejer had spoken with deputies months earlier about her son riding the electric motorcycle.
In June 2025, prosecutors allege Mejer called deputies after pictures of her son, then 13, riding an e-motorcycle were posted online. According to the allegations, Mejer told deputies at the time that she had purchased the Surron for her son, contradicting later statements made after Ashman was hit.
The case also turns on how California classifies the vehicle.. Prosecutors said the electric motorcycle can reach speeds of up to 58 mph and has peak power of 12.5kW.. It is not considered an e-bike under California law. meaning riders are required to have a motorcycle license and the vehicle must be registered through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. in announcing the charges. accused Mejer of effectively enabling dangerous conduct. stating she “essentially hand[ed] her 14-year-old son a deadly weapon.” The district attorney’s office argued that parents must be held accountable when illegal and reckless driving by minors results in harm to others.
Mejer’s case raises questions about what responsibilities adults have when children use high-powered electric vehicles that are regulated differently than bicycles and e-bikes.. Legal accountability in these situations often hinges on whether warning signs were ignored or whether prior conversations with law enforcement show an adult’s knowledge of the vehicle’s operation and the rider’s legal status.
As the arraignment approaches. the allegations outlined by prosecutors will likely be tested in court under scrutiny of evidence about what Mejer knew. what she was allegedly told. and what she told deputies after the crash.. For families in Orange County and beyond. the case underscores how quickly street activity. especially on electrically powered two-wheelers. can escalate into life-altering consequences when rules on licensing and vehicle classification are not followed.
The charges remain pending, and Mejer has not entered a plea yet. The next scheduled step in the case is an arraignment hearing set for June 30.
Orange County e-motorcycle crash involuntary manslaughter child endangerment Harbor Justice Center Lake Forest
lock her up honestly
wait so the mom is the one getting charged and not the kid?? that doesnt seem right to me. like the kid is the one who was doing wheelies and hit someone. i get that shes the parent but this feels like theyre going after the wrong person here
my neighbor has one of those surron bikes and honestly those things go way faster than people think. theyre not like regular bicycles or whatever people assume. i saw a kid on one doing probably 40 mph down a residential street last summer and nobody does anything about it. parents just buy these things and have no idea what they handed their kids. this lady apparently even got warnings that he was riding reckless and she still did nothing. a man who survived vietnam died because of this. just let that sink in for a second. survived a whole war and then this happens.
this is why california is so messed up, they always charge the parents instead of dealing with the actual criminals. probably gonna get probation and thats it knowing how these courts work out there. seven years is what they said but we all know thats not what actually happens and the family of that poor man gets nothing