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ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake Forest<\/a> community is mourning the loss of Ed Ashman, a Vietnam veteran<\/a> and beloved educator who died from injuries sustained when he was struck by a teen on an illegal e-motorcycle last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n The collision happened on April 16 near the intersection of Toledo Way and Ridge Route Drive by El Toro High School, where Ashman was a substitute teacher.<\/p>\n According to police, Ashman was crossing the street when a 14-year-old boy, performing wheelies on a Surron Ultra Bee e-motorcycle, struck him and took off.\u00a0<\/p>\n PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Teen arrested after OC electric motorcycle hit-and-run leaves teacher, 81, critical<\/a><\/p>\n The vehicle, which can reach speeds of 58 mph, was operated without the required license, registration, or insurance, authorities said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tommi Jo Mejer, the boy\u2019s mother, was arrested and originally charged with felony child endangerment and accessory after the fact.<\/p>\n Following Ashman’s death, prosecutors filed an amended complaint Friday, charging Mejer with felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and accessory after the fact to a crime, along with misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to a peace officer. She also faces an infraction for permitting an unlicensed minor under the age of 18 to drive a motor vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n The backstory:<\/p>\n Prosecutors revealed that in June 2025, deputies had warned Mejer that the vehicle was illegal for her son to ride.\u00a0<\/p>\n PREVIOUS COVERAGE: OC mother charged with felony after son’s e-motorcycle crash critically injures veteran<\/a><\/p>\n Despite this, she allegedly continued to facilitate its use and later denied owning the bike during the hit-and-run investigation.<\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n “It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of Ed Ashman\u2019s passing,” the family shared via GoFundMe<\/a>. “Your generosity is going to be a massive help in ensuring Ed is honored properly… the financial burden of this loss is one less thing for his loved ones to worry about.”<\/p>\n Orange County <\/a>District Attorney Todd Spitzer previously condemned the incident.<\/p>\n “This 81-year-old man survived flying combat missions in Vietnam… and now he is clinging to life because a mother refused to parent her child.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Spitzer has described the rise of these modified vehicles as a “pandemic” and promised that parents who allow illegal operation will be prosecuted to the fullest extent.<\/p>\n What we don’t know:<\/p>\n While the mother’s trial process is moving forward, the specific details regarding the teen’s proceedings are restricted due to privacy laws regarding minors.<\/p>\n Local perspective:<\/p>\n The District Attorney\u2019s office indicated that this is the third similar case recently prosecuted in Orange County, following similar incidents in Yorba Linda<\/a> and Huntington Beach.<\/a><\/p>\n SUGGESTED: 13-year-old dies after being hit by train while riding e-bike in Simi Valley<\/a><\/p>\n Recently, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District announced it is banning elementary and middle school students (grades TK-8) from bringing e-bikes or other motorized vehicles on campus beginning in the 2026-27 school year. High school students (grades 9-12) are permitted to bring e-bikes to campus, but must complete safety training and follow district requirements.<\/p>\n Big picture view:<\/p>\n In response to rising safety concerns regarding children and e-bikes, two new California<\/a> bills are currently under legislative review.<\/p>\n AB 1942 <\/a>proposes requiring certain e-bikes to be registered with the DMV and display license plates to simplify ticketing for traffic<\/a> violations.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, AB 1557<\/a> focuses on safety by reducing the maximum speed of e-bike models that children are permitted to ride.<\/p>\n If either bill is approved by the committee and passed into law this year, the new regulations will go into effect on January 1, 2027.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n Mejer faces a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison if convicted on all counts.<\/p>\n She is due to be arraigned May 21 in Newport Beach.<\/a><\/p>\n SUGGESTED: Two teens arrested in brutal e-bike attack on man in Hermosa Beach<\/a><\/p>\n What you can do:<\/p>\n The community continues to accept donations through the verified GoFundMe page <\/a>to assist the Ashman family with funeral costs and medical expenses.<\/p>\n Anyone with further information on the hit-and-run or illegal e-motorcycle activity in the area is urged to contact the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department at (714) 647-7000 or submit an anonymous tip through OC Crime Stoppers.<\/p>\n The Source: This report is based on official statements from the Orange County District Attorney\u2019s Office, arrest records from the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department, and verified updates from the Ashman family’s GoFundMe page, as well as previous reporting from FOX 11’s Gina Silva.<\/p>\n Orange County<\/a>Instastories<\/a>Lake Forest<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Veterans<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake Forest community is mourning the loss of Ed Ashman, a Vietnam veteran…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,1184,2042,2444,26994,1703,100,611,425,1181,513],"class_list":["post-295635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-ca","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-instastories","tag-lake-forest","tag-military","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-series","tag-us","tag-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"SUGGESTED](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/x98m5pjow1z42ws1.jpg\")
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