Two 14-year-old boys who suffered critical injuries when a Lexus struck their e-scooter and e-motorcycle at a Riverside intersection have died.
Fabian V. Carmona died Aug. 30, five days after the collision, while Noe Ramirez-Lopez died Sept. 2, KTLA reported, citing a later police confirmation carried by the Press-Enterprise.
The collision happened shortly before 7:46 p.m. Aug. 25 at Arlington Avenue and Mitchell Avenue. The boys were traveling south on Mitchell and attempting to cross the intersection when they were struck by an 88-year-old man driving west on Arlington in a silver Lexus, according to an Riverside Police Department post issued the following day.
Both boys were initially hospitalized with major injuries. The collision remained under investigation after their deaths, and no arrest had been announced.
Across Arlington
Riverside Police described one boy as riding an e-scooter and the other as riding an “e-moto.” The department’s preliminary account did not say which boy was operating which device.
The Lexus driver remained at the scene. Police said at the time that it was not yet known whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the collision. The department’s Major Accident Investigation Team took over the investigation.
The force of the impact was apparent in footage from the scene. KTLA reported that the electric scooter was crushed beneath the front of the Lexus and that the vehicle’s windshield was smashed.
Paul Cross, who lived nearby and went to the intersection after the crash, told KTLA the driver appeared shaken and was having trouble getting the vehicle into park.
Neighbor Billy Vasquez told the station that he believed he had seen the boys riding with a larger group of children shortly before the collision.
Different Machines
The distinction between an e-scooter and an e-moto is more than a wording choice in California.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles says a motorized scooter has two wheels, a motor, handlebars and a floorboard designed for a standing rider. Under the state’s rules, an operator must be at least 16 and have a valid driver’s license or permit.
That creates an obvious question in a crash involving a 14-year-old rider, but the police account does not provide the make or model of the device. Without those details, the department’s description of an “e-scooter” alone is not enough to establish precisely how the machine was classified under California law.
The second device presents a similar issue.
A California law that took effect Jan. 1, 2026, specifically addresses certain off-highway electric motorcycles commonly called eMotos. The DMV says qualifying machines are designed primarily for off-highway operation, use an electric motor, have handlebars and a straddle seat, run on two wheels and have no pedals. Those vehicles are treated as off-highway motorcycles and require OHV identification.
Riverside Police called the second machine an e-moto but did not publish enough vehicle information to determine whether it met that statutory definition.
Questions Remain
The crash also prompted questions about helmets and lighting, but the available police account does not establish whether either teenager was wearing a helmet or whether either machine had working headlights or taillights.
Those details could become relevant as police reconstruct what happened at the intersection, but they cannot be determined from reader comments or assumptions about the vehicles.
Police also had not publicly assigned fault in the collision in the material available after the boys’ deaths.
A later ABC7 report said the Lexus driver stayed at the scene and that no arrests had been made as the investigation continued.