Brandon Scott Soleau, 21, of Huntington Beach, has been charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in connection with the death of 20-year-old Kolby Aipa, who died nearly a year ago while “car surfing” on an electric bike along Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. Soleau is scheduled for arraignment on Thursday and could face up to six years in prison if convicted.
According to the Orange County district attorney’s office, the incident took place on the night of August 2, 2025. Around 10:30 p.m., Soleau was driving his 2015 Toyota Tacoma with eight passengers inside, including three people riding in the truck bed. Aipa was riding his e-bike on a service road parallel to the highway when he asked Soleau if he could hold onto the vehicle—a practice known as “car surfing.” Prosecutors say Soleau agreed, and Aipa placed his arm through the truck’s front passenger window to hold on.
Video footage captured by one of the passengers shows Aipa being towed as Soleau merged onto southbound Pacific Coast Highway at speeds exceeding 50 miles per hour. Aipa, who was not wearing a helmet, subsequently lost control of his e-bike and crashed. He was transported to a hospital in critical condition and died three days later from blunt head trauma.
Under California Vehicle Code, it is illegal for anyone on an e-bikes, bicycles, motorcycles, or roller skates to attach themselves to another vehicle on a roadway. The district attorney emphasized the tragic consequences of these actions. “This is a stark reminder that every action and every decision have a consequence, and in this instance the price of those decisions was the life of a 20-year-old man and that is a price no one should ever have to pay,” said O.C. District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
Aipa was the grandson of Ben Aipa, a renowned surfboard shaper credited with pioneering influential designs in the 1970s, such as the sting and swallowtail styles. Kolby Aipa was regarded as a rising figure in the surfing community, having secured sponsorships from several surf clothing brands. Last September, he was posthumously inducted as the youngest member of the Surfers’ Hall of Fame, receiving a plaque positioned alongside his grandfather’s handprints in front of Huntington Surf & Sport.
The young surfer’s death has been deeply mourned in both Huntington Beach, where he lived, and in his family’s native Hawaii. Speaking at Kolby’s Hall of Fame induction, his father, Duke Aipa, reflected on the loss and the legacy his son left behind. “I was working hard in this life, perpetuating my father’s legacy, thinking I had this surf legacy that I needed to pass on to my son and my son would run with it,” Duke Aipa said. “That didn’t happen, but what did happen is that Kolby found a way to come back full circle to the basic principles of love and aloha.”
Aipa Surf, the company founded by Kolby’s grandfather, issued a statement following his passing, highlighting the young man’s kindness and enduring impact. “His acts of kindness and caring was his gift of Aloha to friends and strangers alike,” the company said. “To everyone that reads this … pass his Aloha on.”