Man charged with felony in e-bike death of Huntington Beach’s Kolby Aipa
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A Huntington Beach man was charged Friday in the e-bike death of surfing standout Kolby Aipa last August.
The Orange County district attorney’s office charged Brandon Scott Soleau, 21, with a felony count of vehicular slaughter with gross negligence in connection with the death of Aipa, 20.
Prosecutors allege that Soleau was driving down Pacific Coast Highway on the night of Aug. 2, 2025, with Aipa “car surfing” outside of the vehicle on his e-bike. Soleau had eight passengers in his Toyota Tacoma, including three in the bed of the truck, prosecutors said.
If convicted as charged, Soleau faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.
Aipa asked Soleau if he could grab on and “car surf” while Soleau drove on a service road parallel to PCH, prosecutors said, and he was given permission. Aipa put his arm through the open passenger window while riding the e-bike.
Prosecutors accuse Soleau of merging onto southbound PCH at approximately 50 miles per hour, while a passenger in his truck filmed Aipa. After more than a mile, Aipa lost control and fell near Seapoint Street, prosecutors said.
Aipa was taken to UCI Medical Center in critical condition and died three days later, on Aug. 5. The surfing community mourned the death of the grandson of famous late Hawaiian shaper Ben Aipa; Kolby Aipa was posthumously inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in September, joining his grandfather there.
Prosecutors said it is illegal under the California Vehicle Code for someone riding an e-bike to attach themselves to a vehicle on the roadway. Also, Aipa was not wearing a helmet.
Soleau is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday at the Stephen K. Tamura West Justice Center in Westminster.
“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 Dist. Atty. 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.”
A Huntington Beach High graduate, Soleau was a key part of the defense as the Golden West College football team, for which he played, advanced to the junior college state championship game last December, before falling 28-27 to defending champion San Mateo.
Soleau, a linebacker, finished the season with 103 tackles, three interceptions and two quarterback sacks.
