News of the death of a 13-year-old boy killed in an e-motorcycle crash in Garden Grove on Thursday, May 7, spread quickly among his friends.
His riding buddies keep tabs on one another using a GPS location-sharing app that provides real-time tracking. They could tell that he was riding south on Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue around 9:50 p.m., they said.
Then came an alert: He may have been in an accident.
It wasn’t known why the boy, identified by authorities on Monday, May 11, as Benson Nguyen from Santa Ana, was riding in Garden Grove at that hour. Off-road electric motorcycles, which are equipped with pegs instead of pedals, are not legal to ride on public streets in California. E-bikes are legal, but some are modified for additional speed.
On Saturday, more than a dozen teenagers parked their e-bikes or e-motorcycles at the median where the crash happened, now the scene of a makeshift memorial for Nguyen.
The street had heavy traffic at times, but amidst the cars, a few teenage riders popped wheelies, with pictures of the boy on their handlebars.
Friends pay tribute to a 13-year-old boy who crashed his e-motorcycle on a median at Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue in Garden Grove on Thursday evening and died. On Saturday, they placed flowers, soft drinks and a pizza at the makeshift memorial. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG
E-riders park their bikes on the median at Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue in Garden Grove on Saturday, May 9, to pay tribute to their friend. The 13-year-old boy died after crashing on his e-motorcycle Thursday evening. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Heartfelt messages are left at the crash site where a 13-year-old boy on an e-motorcycle hit a median at a curve on Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue Thursday evening. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Friends pay tribute to a 13-year-old boy who crashed his e-motorcycle on a median at Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue in Garden Grove on Thursday evening. On Saturday, they placed flowers, soft drinks a pizza and lit sparklers at the memorial site. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG
Messages, photos, flowers and food are left at the crash site where a 13-year-old boy on an e-motorcycle hit a median at a curve on Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue on Thursday evening. He later died at a hospital. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Messages are left at the crash site where a 13-year-old boy died after his e-motorcycle hit a median at a curve on Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue Thursday evening. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A boy pops a wheelie on his Sur-Ron e-moto bike on Saturday, May 9, 2026, on Magnolia Street near the accident site of his 13-year-old friend. His friend died after crashing his e-motorcycle Thursday night. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Friends pay tribute to a 13-year-old boy who crashed his e-motorcycle on a median at Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue in Garden Grove Thursday evening. On Saturday, May 9, 2026, they lit candles, placed flowers and some popped wheelies and performed stunts at the accident site. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG
A mourner spins his rear tire at the accident site and makeshift memorial of his 13-year-old friend who died after crashing his e-motorcycle into the median’s curb on Magnolia Street in Garden Grove. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Friends pay tribute to a 13-year-old boy who died after crashing his e-motorcycle on a median at Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue in Garden Grove on Thursday evening. On Saturday, May 9, 2026, they lit candles, placed flowers and popped wheelies at the accident site. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Friends pay tribute to a 13-year-old boy who crashed his e-motorcycle on a median at Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue in Garden Grove on Thursday evening and died. On Saturday, they placed flowers, soft drinks and a pizza at the makeshift memorial. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG
The teens also lit firecrackers and spray-painted messages like “forever 13.” They shouted “LLB” to passing cars — “Long Live Benson.” Some drivers appeared to honk in empathy.
A 15-year-old described Nguyen as having “lots of happy energy” and being “a good student.”
The friends also said he was passionate about lion dancing and was part of the Tyun Yee Tong lion dancers organization in Garden Grove. He inspired many of his young, fellow bikers to join the dance group, a 16-year-old said.
The group pointed to a roughly 1-foot-long black skid mark on the median’s curb and surmised it was where his front tire hit.
Nguyen was going about 35 mph, Garden Grove police said, and was wearing a regular bicycle helmet when he collided with the median for “unknown reasons” and was ejected from the e-motorcycle. He later died at the hospital.
Anyone who may have witnessed the crash or has video of it is asked to contact Investigator Lang at 714-741-5823 or email at mlang@ggcity.org, police said.
By early evening on Saturday, as activity at the memorial waned, Ash Plascencia looked solemnly out of place. He was holding a small black bag.
Plascencia, 19, said he has been a friend of Nguyen’s older brother since middle school. He hasn’t spoken with him since the accident.
“I’m giving him space,” he said.
“This is the first time I’ve experienced the loss of someone close,” he said. “A family member can be gone so fast.”
In his bag were snacks for his sister.
“This taught me to be more loving,” he said.
13-year-old boy riding e-motorcycle dies in crash in Garden Grove