Driver charged in death of California ‘surf royalty’ after e-bike towing crash

A Huntington Beach man has been charged with felony vehicular manslaughter nearly a year after prosecutors say he allowed 20-year-old surfer Kolby Aipa, widely remembered as California "surf royalty," to hold onto his pickup truck while riding an e-bike before a crash that killed him. The Orange County District Attorney's Office announced Friday that 21-year-old Brandon Scott Soleau has been charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in Aipa's death. If convicted, Soleau faces up to six years in state prison. He is scheduled to be arraigned July 23 at the Stephen K. Tamura West Justice Center in Westminster. The fatal crash happened on Aug. 2, 2025, after Soleau picked up eight passengers in his 2015 Toyota Tacoma following a movie premiere in Huntington Beach. Aipa was riding alongside the truck on an e-bike when he asked Soleau if he could grab onto the vehicle and "car surf," prosecutors said. Soleau allegedly gave him permission, and Aipa held onto the truck by putting his arm through the open front passenger window while continuing to ride the e-bike. Prosecutors allege Soleau then merged onto southbound Pacific Coast Highway at approximately 50 mph while a passenger recorded video of Aipa holding onto the truck. After traveling more than a mile, near Seapoint Street, Aipa lost control and fell from the e-bike. Aipa, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered critical injuries and was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he died three days later from blunt head trauma, according to prosecutors. They also noted that California law prohibits people riding bicycles, motorized bicycles and similar devices from attaching themselves to moving vehicles on a roadway. Investigators said at the time that impairment was not suspected. "This tragedy cost the life of a young man with his entire future ahead of him and will forever impact a young man who will have to live the rest of his life knowing that he killed his friend," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. "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." Aipa was the grandson of legendary Hawaiian surfboard shaper Ben Aipa, who pioneered the iconic "sting" surfboard design and founded Aipa Surf in 1970. Following Kolby's death, surf publications described him as "surf royalty" and remembered the Huntington Beach native as an up-and-coming surfer sponsored by major brands and a member of the Huntington Beach Board Riders club. Aipa Surf called his death "the hardest post we will ever make" in a tribute shared after his passing. "Kolby always had a way with touching the lives of whoever he met," the family wrote. "His acts of kindness and caring was his gift of Aloha to friends and strangers alike. To everyone that reads this... pass his Aloha on. So, how Kolby treated you, treat others in that same way... In this you are continuing his legacy of Aloha. And you too can be like Kolby."