When Kolby Aipa died in August of 2025, it sent shock waves through the surfing community. Photo: Aipa Surf//Instagram
When Kolby Aipa, grandson of the legendary Ben Aipa and son of Duke Aipa, died last August in an ebiking accident, it sent shock waves through the surfing community. Now, the driver involved in the accident with Aipa has been charged.
According to reports, the driver was 21-year-old Brandon Scott Soleau of Huntington Beach. He was charged with a felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Prosecutors say that Soleau was driving on the PCH on August 2 while Aipa “car surfed” outside of his Toyota Tacoma. The LA Times reported that Soleau had eight people in the truck, which included three in the truck bed.
The accident, which occurred just after 10:00 p.m., happened at the intersection of Seapoint Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, California. Aipa was taken to UCI Medical Center, but tragically he passed away on August 5 after his family made the decision to take him off life support.
“We are completely heartbroken,” a statement from Aipa Surf read at the time. “We wanted to thank all the visitors, supporters, food deliveries, donations, flowers, cards, countless stories and photos his friends have shared with us, doctors and nurses that have taken care of our sweet boy. The HB community and everyone around the world have touched our hearts in an unimaginable way. Thank you for loving our boy. Kolby always had a way with touching the lives of whoever he met. 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. Remember him and tell the world that.”
Since Aipa’s untimely death, a plaque in his honor has been installed in the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach.
Reports indicate that Aipa asked the driver if he could grab onto the vehicle as he drove on a road that runs parallel to the Pacific Coast Highway. After Soleau said yes, he merged onto the PCH at 50 miles an hour. One of the vehicle’s occupants filmed as Aipa held on through the passenger side window. After a mile, Aipa lost control and fell.
Under California Vehicle Code, it is illegal for someone on a bike to attach themselves to a vehicle on a road. Aipa wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. If Soleau is convicted, he could be sentenced to up to six years in state prison.
“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.”
