SoCal prosecutor Todd Spitzer charges previously-warned mother with manslaughter when her 14 yr old son struck an elderly Vietnam veteran with his e-motorcycle, resulting in the man's death following weeks in the hospital.
“An American hero who survived flying combat missions in Vietnam could not survive walking across the street in Lake Forest because of a 14-year-old child who was allowed to ride an E-Motorcycle that he should have never been riding,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “This mother essentially handed her 14-year-old son a deadly weapon, and despite multiple warnings of the dangers, continued to let him illegally ride an E-Motorcycle until he finally killed someone. This is a tragedy for the family of Ed Ashman and for everyone who loved a man who committed himself to his country and his community, and it is a tragedy for our society that we have gotten to a point where parents are refusing to hold their children – and themselves – accountable for endangering the lives of other people. If parents aren’t going to hold their children accountable, then I am going to hold parents accountable for hurting and killing innocent people while riding illegal motor vehicles.”
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"On Thursday, April 16, 2026, around 4 p.m., Orange County Sheriff’s deputies were called to respond to Toledo Way and Ridge Route Drive, which borders El Toro High School, for a pedestrian hit by an E-motorcycle.
"The victim, later identified as Ed Ashman, an 81-year-old substitute teacher and captain in the United States Marine Corps who flew combat missions in Vietnam, was critically injured after being hit by a teenage boy doing wheelies in the middle of the street. The rider of the Surron E-motorcycle left the scene of the collision.
"In June 2025, [almost a year earlier] Mejer called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to complain that someone was posting pictures of her then-13-year-old son riding an E-motorcycle. During a 28-minute interaction with two Orange County Sheriff’s deputies captured on body worn camera, Mejer admitted that she purchased her son a Surron E-motorcycle and knew that he drove it recklessly. The deputies warned her that she could face potential criminal charges if she continued to allow him to ride the E-motorcycle which he could not legally ride.
"[After her son struck Ed Ashman with the E-E-motorcycle that it was illegal for him to drive, his mother,] Tommi Jo Mejer, 50, of Aliso Viejo, [who had] previously been charged with one felony count of child endangerment, one felony count of accessory after the fact to a crime, one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one misdemeanor count of loaning a motor vehicle to an unlicensed driver, and one misdemeanor count of providing false information to a peace officer.
"Today, [after Ed Ashman died], in an amended complaint, Mejer is now charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Ed Ashman, one felony count of child endangerment, one felony count of accessory after the fact to a crime, one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one misdemeanor count of providing false information to a peace officer, and an infraction for permitting an unlicensed minor under the age of 18 to drive a motor vehicle. She faces a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison if convicted on all counts."
https://ocdistrictattorney.gov/press/charges-upgraded-to-involuntary-manslaughter-against-aliso-viejo-mother-whose-14-year-old-son-killed-vietnam-veteran-while-child-was-illegally-riding-an-e-motorcycle-16-times-more-powerful-than-an-e/
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There is a growing trend in this district of charging parent(s) for reckless and dangerous behavior on the part of their children.