WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KGO) — A Walnut Creek couple has been charged with misdemeanor child abuse months after their teenage son was severely injured in a crash while riding an electric motorcycle, authorities said.
The crash happened in September when the teen, riding a Surron Light Bee e-motorcycle, collided with a minivan, police said.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office charged the 58-year-old parents Thursday with one count each of misdemeanor child abuse, alleging they “willfully and unlawfully permitted a child to be injured or placed in a situation where the child’s health is endangered.”
The parents are scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning in Martinez.
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Police said they had cited and warned the parents for several years, beginning when their son was 14, about the dangers of his e-motorcycle riding.
“You’re seeing this in other cases particularly involving firearms, holding parents accountable for the misdeeds of the juvenile, and you’re seeing that here,” legal analyst Steven Clark said.
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Walnut Creek police said the teen’s motorcycle had been highly modified. “Most electric motorcycles when they are purchased are limited to 15 miles per hour, and in this case it was highly modified,” Lt. Guy Ezard said. “Some of these highly modified e-motorcycles can actually travel more than 40 miles per hour, so it gets quite dangerous, especially when you have a child driving the motorcycle.”
Clark said the case could be challenging to prosecute.
“I think there’s a chance the jurors may recoil from this and say it’s a governmental overreach – and at the same time why aren’t we prosecuting the minor,” he said.
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