| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 20, 2026
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Orange County District Attorney’s Office to Hold First E-Bike and E-Moto Buy Back Event
Sunday, September 13 in Countywide Effort to Reduce Injuries, Save Lives
Surrender Unwanted E-Bikes, Pocket bikes, E-Scooters, and E-Motos in Exchange
for Gift Cards Ranging from $200 to $1,000 Depending on Classification;
First 75 Will Also Receive Two Tickets to a Los Angeles Angels Baseball Game.
Santa Ana – Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is hosting the first E-Bike and E-Motorcycle Buy Back Program on Sunday, September 13, 2026, at Angel Stadium, offering up to $1,000 in gift cards and tickets to a Los Angeles Angels baseball game in exchange for E-Bikes, pocket bikes, E-Scooters, and E-Motorcycles, in an effort to reduce injuries and deaths. E-Bikes and E-Motorcycles have become the number one reason Orange County children are admitted to the emergency room, with injuries increasing 430% in just the last four years across Southern California.
BUY BACK SAFETY:
Orange County District Attorney’s Office
E-Bike and E-Moto Buy Back Program
Sunday, September 13, 2026
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Angel Stadium
2000 E. Gene Autry Way, Anaheim, CA 92806
(Enter off Orangewood Avenue)
Patterned after law enforcement gun buyback programs, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office’s BUY BACK SAFETY E-Bike and E-Moto Buy Back Program will offer gift cards from Target, Walmart, and Dick’s Sporting Goods in exchange for E-Bikes, pocket bikes, E-Scooters, and E-Motos ranging from $200 to $1,000 depending on the classification of the vehicle as determined by law enforcement on site. Store bought pocket bikes as well as homemade miniature bikes equipped with electric or gas-powered motors will also be accepted.
Orange County District Attorney’s Office
E-Bike and E-Moto Buy Back Program Trade in Values
Pocket bikes/Homemade miniature bikes – $200 in gift cards
Class 1 E-Bike – $300 in gift cards
Class 2 E-Bike – $400 in gift cards
Class 3 E-Bike – $600 in gift cards
E-Motorcycle – $1,000 in gift cards
The first 75 people to turn in their E-Bike, E-Moto, pocket bike, or E-Scooter will also receive two tickets to a Los Angeles Angels baseball game. In addition to the buyback packages, the September 13 event will also feature free giveaways and E-Bike safety information from local law enforcement, healthcare, and community partners.
Gift card quantities are limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. E-vehicles can be surrendered anonymously. Working and non-working vehicles will be accepted, and no questions will be asked. The gift cards are being funded through asset forfeiture funds, which are monies seized by law enforcement from criminal enterprises.
In May 2026, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced the creation of a new E-Bike/E-Motorcycle unit – RIDE SAFELY (Smart Accountability for E-Bikes and E-Motos and Law Enforcement for Youth) to review all potential criminal charges against juveniles and adults, including parents who knowingly allow their children to illegally ride E-Motorcycles and E-Bikes. The unit is part of the District Attorney’s multi-pronged approach to reducing E-Bike and E-Moto injuries and saving lives along with increased education, prosecution of riders and their parents, pursuing additional legislation, and holding manufacturers and retailers accountable.
Since January, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has filed child endangerment charges against four parents for allowing their children to illegally ride E-Motorcycles, including filing involuntary manslaughter charges against a mother after her 14-year-old son hit and killed an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran in Lake Forest after she had been repeatedly warned that the E-Motorcycle he was riding was illegal and that she could be held criminally liable. She faces a maximum sentence of seven years and eight months in state prison if convicted.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has also filed felony charges against a Yorba Linda father whose 12-year-old son was critically injured after he ran a red light and was hit by a car while riding an E-Motorcycle which had been modified to go up to 60 miles per hour, after the boy and his father had been warned about the dangers of children riding E-Motorcycles illegally. He faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison if convicted on all counts.
“I will never get over the fact than an 81-year-old American hero survived flying combat missions in Vietnam, but he couldn’t survive his daily walk home from work because he was hit and killed by a child on an E-Motorcycle who knew he shouldn’t be riding it and did it anyway,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Or that the parents of a 13-year-old boy had to bury their child because he crashed an E-Motorcycle while riding home. These vehicles are not child’s play, and the consequences are incredibly dangerous and increasingly deadly. We are doing everything we can to protect people and save lives. I want these illegal and illegally modified vehicles off our streets and out of the hands of riders who have no business riding them. If you own one, if you let your child ride one and we catch you, we will prosecute you. That is not a threat. That is a promise.”
District Attorney Spitzer has also issued formal warning letters to more than 80 Orange County retailers reiterating their legal duties in connection with selling E-Bike and E-Motorcycles and the potential criminal and civil penalties they could face if they fail to fulfill those duties. California strictly prohibits the sale of products or devices that can modify the speed capability of an electric bicycle so that it no longer meets the definition of an electric bicycle. Retailers will be subject to periodic inspections by Orange County District Attorney investigators to ensure they are following the law.
More than 100 deaths have been attributed to e-Bikes and E-Motorcycles in the United States, including a 15-year-old boy who was riding on the back of an E-Motorcycle in La Habra, a 13-year-old boy who was killed while riding an E-Motorcycle in Garden Grove, and a 21-year-old who died five days after crashing an E-Bike in Huntington Beach. Children between the age of 11 and 14 account for 61.7% of E-Motorcycle crashes even though children under the age of 16 are legally prohibited from riding E-Motorcycles, according to the California Statewide Integrated Traffic Record System (SWITRS).
California law distinguishes between E-Bikes and E-Motorcycles based on three main features: the power limit of its motor, its maximum speed limit, and whether it is equipped with operable pedals. Electric bicycles with Class 1 or Class 2 designations do not have rider age or licensing restrictions; E-Bikes with Class 3 designations require riders to be aged 16 or older.
Generally, an electric bike that does not qualify as Class 1, 2 or 3, will be classified as an electric motorcycle. That means either that the bike has an electric motor that exceeds 750 watts of power or can reach speeds higher than 20-mph on motor power alone. Additionally, if the bike is not equipped with fully operable pedals, or if it has been modified to reach speeds higher than 20-mph or to attain power higher than 750 watts, the bike cannot be designated an electric bike and instead would be considered an E-Motorcycle.
E-Motorcycles must be registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as an off-highway use vehicle (OHV), have current insurance, and can only be ridden off of public highways by a rider over the age of 16 with a valid motorcycle license and a DOT-approved helmet. Riders who do not fit the legally required criteria can be cited and have their vehicle impounded at a cost in excess of $2,600 a month.
All riders under the age of 18 are required to wear a helmet, regardless of classification.
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