The driver accused of allowing a rising surf star to "car surf" on the side of his pickup truck has been charged nearly a year after the incident that led to the young man's death. Brandon Scott Soleau, 21, of Huntington Beach, is accused of permitting Kolby Aipa, 20, to hold onto his vehicle as Aipa rode an e-bike at dangerous speeds.
The crash occurred last August as the group was returning from a movie premiere in Huntington Beach. Aipa lost control of the e-bike and fell, sustaining blunt head trauma. He died on August 5, 2025, three days after the collision.
Soleau is alleged to have driven his 2015 Toyota Tacoma at approximately 50 miles per hour while Aipa was attached to the vehicle. He faces one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors noted that it is illegal for individuals riding motorcycles, motorized bicycles, bicycles, coasters, roller skates, or toy vehicles to attach themselves to a moving vehicle on a roadway.
Soleau is scheduled for arraignment on July 23, 2026, at the Stephen K. Tamura West Justice Center in Westminster. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of six years in state prison.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer stated that the tragedy resulted in the loss of a young life with a full future ahead of him and will have a lasting impact on the driver. "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," Spitzer said.
Aipa was the grandson of legendary Hawaiian surfboard maker Ben Aipa, who crafted the board that "father of surfing" Fred Hemmings used to win the World Surfing Championship. The Aipa surfboard company memorialized Kolby Aipa last year, remembering his "acts of kindness and caring" and his "gift of Aloha."