California prosecutors charge parents with child abuse following e-moto crash

March 30, 2026

Prosecutors in California have charged a mother and father with child abuse after their child crashed into a vehicle in Walnut Creek on their e-moto and was seriously injured. Also this weekend, police in Long Beach arrested one operators and seized five e-motos after responding to what they said was a group of 50 riding illegal e-motos recklessly.

The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office said the juvenile operator was unlicensed and have charged parents Steven Leroy Crews and Jeanna Marie Gabellini of Benicia on one count of child abuse, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors said the parents “willfully and unlawfully permitted a child to be injured or placed in a situation where the child’s health is endangered.”

The crash occured on Sept. 18, 2025. The prosecutors say the minor crashed his Surron Light Bee e-moto into a minivan. The minor suffered severe injuries that required emergency care at a local hospital, while the driver of the minivan was uninjured and stayed at the scene.

Prosecutors say that not only did the parents allow their child to operate the e-moto “in an unsafe manner and at unsafe speeds prior to the crash,” he was allowed to repeatedly ride the e-moto over a several month period despite “repeated citations and warnings from law enforcement.” BRAIN