A mother is facing charges after her son, who was riding an e-motorcycle, was allegedly involved in a crash, seriously injuring her
The mother of a 14-year-old Orange County boy who allegedly hit and killed an 81-year-old man while riding an e-motorcycle made his first court appearance Tuesday to face criminal charges stemming from the fatal crash.
Prosecutors allege that Tommi Jo Mejer’s son hit the Vietnam War veteran on April 16 after the teenager was seen hitting his tires in the middle of the road. The 50-year-old Aliso Viejo mother was charged because prosecutors said she was warned before the accident that killed her son that she was driving an electric motorcycle recklessly and that she was not legally allowed to ride one.
On Tuesday, Mejer appeared with his attorneys for a brief hearing at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. The hearing, however, was postponed to June 30, according to court records.
Mejer’s attorneys declined to comment directly on the case, but issued a brief statement on behalf of their client.
“Tommi Meyer is concerned about such a terrible accident,” read a statement from attorneys Paul S. Meyer and Lolita Kirk. “He expresses his condolences and sorrow for this tragedy. This has hurt everyone. It is not yet time to make another statement.”
Mejer is charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of child endangerment, one count of criminal mischief, one count of reckless endangerment of a minor, one count of loaning a vehicle to an unlicensed driver, and one count of giving false information to a police officer.
He faces seven years and eight months in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Mejer’s son was riding an e-Surron motorcycle near Toledo Way and Ridge Route Drive in Lake Forest when he hit 81-year-old Ed Ashman. It is said that the teenager then ran away from the scene.
Ashman was rushed to hospital and died on April 30.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies contacted Mejer about the crash hours after it happened, and he was allegedly caught on camera telling deputies that he and his son did not have or had access to the Surron.
But prosecutors said Mejer, months earlier, had talked to deputies about his son riding an electric motorcycle.
In June 2025, Mejer allegedly called deputies to complain that someone had posted pictures online of her son, then 13, riding a motorcycle. Mejer told deputies at the time that he had bought a Surron motorcycle for his son.
The electric motorcycle, which can reach speeds of up to 58 mph and has a maximum power of 12.5kW, is not considered an e-bike under California law – meaning riders must have a motorcycle license and must register the vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
In a statement announcing the charges against Mejer, Orange County Dist. He said. Todd Spitzer accused him of being a “hand[ing] his 14-year-old son is a lethal weapon.”
“If parents will not answer for their children, I will hold the parents responsible for harming and killing innocent people in illegal vehicles,” Spitzer said in a statement.
