‘How ridiculous’: 11-year-old goes to court after receiving citation for riding a motorbike

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WKMG) - An 11-year-old boy appeared in court this week alongside his parents and attorney.

Cade Kirchner was charged with one count of misdemeanor failure to register his motorbike, a vehicle police said he was not old enough to ride.

“We’ll enter a plea of not guilty,” Kirchner’s attorney said in court.

Body camera video obtained showed Cade being fingerprinted, ticketed and issued a court summons.

In the video, Cade can be heard saying he knew his e-bike was actually a motorcycle.

An officer in the video told Cade he was issuing one ticket instead of six possible criminal violations.

“So you’re getting one ticket today. OK? You could have gotten six criminal violations, but I’m giving you one,” the officer said.

The officer also told Cade that signing the ticket did not mean he was admitting guilt.

“OK, all right. You know, this is a motorcycle, you know, you can’t be riding it, all right? So just because you signed this ticket doesn’t mean you’re admitting to any guilt. OK, buddy?” the officer said.

Police said the motorbike was capable of traveling 50 MPH and was powered by a 4,500-watt motor.

After court

After the hearing, Cade’s father, Chris Kirchner, commented on the court appearance.

“How ridiculous that he had to miss school for that,” Chris Kirchner said.

Samuel Filler, the attorney representing Cade, said he expects the case to be resolved.

“We will get it all resolved, no doubt in my mind,” Filler said.