12-year-old boy, parents cited after youth stopped in Danville riding electric motorcycle

DANVILLE — A 12-year-old boy and his parents have been cited by police after the youth was stopped for traffic violations while illegally riding an electric motorcycle, authorities said — the second time in recent months that East Bay parents have faced legal consequences over their child’s use of such a device.

In a social media release, police did not say what day the offenses occurred or where exactly the youth was first seen, except to say it was “recently” in a residential area of the city.

Authorities said an officer saw a motorcycle rider run a stop sign. When the officer attempted to stop the motorcycle the rider did not yield and traveled through the residential area at speeds of up to 45 mph. The officer pursued the motorcycle for nearly a mile, until the rider stopped in a cul-de-sac and was apprehended, the release says.

It was then that the officer discovered the rider was a 12-year-old boy, the release says.

Police said the motorcycle he was riding is a Talaria brand electric motorcycle, capable of speeds up to 60 mph and requiring a driver’s license to operate. Electric bicycles, dirt bikes and motorcycles are posing increasing challenges to law-enforcement and traffic-safety authorities, especially when used by underage riders.

The release said the officer contacted the youth’s parents and issued citations to the juvenile for evading a police officer, reckless driving, and driving without a license. The parents were cited for knowingly allowing a juvenile to ride illegally. Police did not release their names.

The boy was released at the scene to his parents, and the case was referred to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office for criminal review, the release says. The electric motorcycle was towed on a 30-day hold.

In March, Contra Costa County prosecutors charged a Walnut Creek couple after their child was seriously injured in an e-moto crash, saying the adults “willfully and unlawfully permitted a child to be injured or placed in a situation where the child’s health is endangered” by allowing the child to ride a device that can be modified to have a top speed of nearly 50 mph.

“These electric motorcycles are not ‘e-bikes’ — they are motor vehicles, and are not street legal,” Danville police Chief Thomas Rossberg said in the release. “Not only will illegal riders be stopped and cited, parents of underage riders will also be cited.”