Parents charged with child abuse in East Bay e-moto crash

WALNUT CREEK — The parents of a teenager who was seriously injured in an electric motorcycle crash last year in Walnut Creek have been charged with child abuse, prosecutors said.
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Steven Leroy Crews and Jeanna Marie Gabellini, both 58 and of Benicia, will be arraigned Friday in Martinez, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors allege that Crews and Gabellini “willfully and unlawfully permitted a child to be injured or placed in a situation where the child’s health is endangered.”
On Sept. 18, 2025, the teen crashed his Surron Light Bee e-moto dirt bike into a minivan at Treat Boulevard and Arkell Road in Walnut Creek, according to the district attorney’s office. He suffered severe injuries that required emergency care at an area hospital.
The driver was not injured and stayed at the scene.
Prosecutors said Walnut Creek police investigated the crash and determined the unlicensed teen was riding the bike in an “unsafe manner and at unsafe speeds prior to the crash.”
Surron lists two versions of the Light Bee on its website — the S and the X. The former has a maximum speed of 31 mph and the latter has a top speed of nearly 47 mph.
According to the district attorney’s office, the parents allowed the teen to ride the e-moto from ages 14 to 17, also ignoring repeated citations and warnings from law enforcement.
“E-bikes and e-motos are more prevalent on city streets,” District Attorney Diana Becton said in a statement. “Now that California has new laws on the books to address public safety offenses related to e-bikes and e-motos, parents must understand the dangers these vehicles can pose to children if operated unlawfully and without proper driver education.”