Huntington Beach Driver Charged With Felony Manslaughter in Fatal “Car Surfing” Case

A Huntington Beach man has been charged with felony vehicular manslaughter after prosecutors said he drove onto Pacific Coast Highway at about 50 mph while his friend held onto the pickup truck from an electric bicycle.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office charged 21-year-old Brandon Scott Soleau on July 17 with one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the death of Kolby Kekoa Aipa, 20. Soleau faces up to six years in state prison if convicted as charged.

Soleau was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, July 23, at the Stephen K. Tamura West Justice Center in Westminster. The charge is an allegation, and prosecutors must prove each part of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case arose from an Aug. 2, 2025 outing in Huntington Beach. Prosecutors said Soleau picked up eight passengers in his 2015 Toyota Tacoma at about 10:30 p.m. after a movie premiere. Three of the passengers allegedly rode in the truck bed.

Aipa was riding an e-bike alongside the Tacoma on a service road running parallel to Pacific Coast Highway. According to prosecutors, Aipa asked whether he could hold onto the truck, and Soleau gave him permission.

Aipa then placed an arm through the open front passenger window while continuing to ride the e-bike. Soleau allegedly merged onto southbound Pacific Coast Highway at approximately 50 mph as a passenger recorded Aipa holding onto the truck.

The arrangement continued for more than a mile, prosecutors said. Aipa lost control near Seapoint Street and fell from the bicycle. He was taken to UCI Medical Center in critical condition and died three days later from blunt-force head trauma. Prosecutors said he was not wearing a helmet.

Aipa was a prominent young surfer and the grandson of Ben Aipa, an influential Hawaiian surfer and surfboard designer. Kolby Aipa was posthumously inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach in September 2025.

The criminal charge does not rest simply on the fact that Soleau was driving when Aipa died. California law requires prosecutors to establish gross negligence, a much higher level of fault than the carelessness involved in an ordinary traffic accident.

Under California Penal Code Section 192(c)(1), gross vehicular manslaughter can occur when a driver commits a misdemeanor or traffic infraction with gross negligence and causes another person’s death. The statute also covers an otherwise lawful act performed in an unlawful and grossly negligent manner.

California’s criminal jury instructions describe gross negligence as more than ordinary carelessness, inattention, or a mistake in judgment. The conduct must create a high risk of death or serious injury, and an ordinarily reasonable person would have recognized that danger.

The prosecutors must show that the driving was so far outside the conduct expected of a careful person that it reflected disregard for human life or indifference to the consequences.

The alleged speed is only part of the prosecution’s case. Driving at about 50 mph on Pacific Coast Highway would not by itself necessarily establish felony manslaughter. Prosecutors will likely rely on the complete sequence they described: allowing an e-bike rider to hold onto the truck, entering a major highway at high speed, continuing for more than a mile, and doing so while the truck was carrying numerous passengers.

The publicly released account does not identify the exact traffic violation prosecutors will use as the underlying unlawful act at trial. California Vehicle Code Section 21203 prohibits a person riding a bicycle, motorized bicycle or similar device from attaching themselves or the device to another vehicle on the roadway. The wording of that provision directly addresses the rider’s conduct.

That does not end the possible case against the driver. The manslaughter law also permits a charge based on driving that might otherwise be lawful but was carried out with gross negligence. Prosecutors must still connect Soleau’s own decisions to the fatal result.

Aipa’s alleged actions will likely become an important part of the defense. Prosecutors acknowledge that he asked to hold onto the truck, placed his arm through the window, and rode without a helmet.

Those facts do not automatically clear Soleau of criminal responsibility, but they are not legally meaningless. They could affect the jury’s view of what caused the fall, what risks were foreseeable, and whether Soleau’s conduct reached the level of gross negligence.

The criminal question is not resolved by assigning each person a percentage of fault. A jury must decide whether Soleau’s conduct was a substantial factor in causing Aipa’s death.

California’s jury instructions recognize that a death can have more than one cause. A defendant’s act need not be the only cause, but it must be more than a trivial or remote contribution. The death must also be a direct, natural, and reasonably foreseeable consequence of the conduct being prosecuted.

The defense could argue that Aipa independently chose to participate, lost control of his own bicycle, or increased the danger by not wearing a helmet. Prosecutors could respond that those choices did not remove the danger allegedly created by allowing him to remain attached to a moving pickup at highway speed.

Ultimately, the jury would need to decide whether Soleau’s driving remained a substantial cause of the death despite Aipa’s own conduct.

The distinction between ordinary and gross negligence will also determine the seriousness of the potential conviction.

Vehicular manslaughter committed with ordinary negligence is generally a misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year in county jail. Manslaughter involving gross negligence can be punished as either a misdemeanor or a felony. A felony sentence under the statute can be two, four, or six years in state prison. Prosecutors have chosen to file Soleau’s charge as a felony.

If a jury concluded that Soleau acted negligently but that his conduct did not reach the gross-negligence standard, misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter could be considered as a lesser offense. California’s jury instructions identify vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence as a lesser included offense of the gross-negligence charge.

The Orange County District Attorney’s announcement did not allege that alcohol or drugs played a role. Soleau has not been charged with DUI manslaughter or murder. The case instead focuses on whether the alleged decision to tow Aipa at highway speed was so dangerous that it amounted to felony gross negligence.

At an arraignment, a defendant is formally advised of the charge and ordinarily enters a plea. If the felony case continues and is not resolved through an agreement, prosecutors will generally present their main evidence at a preliminary hearing. A judge then decides whether there is enough evidence to require the defendant to stand trial.

The filing of a charge nearly one year after Aipa’s death begins that process rather than ending it. Prosecutors must prove both that Soleau’s conduct was grossly negligent and that it substantially caused the fatal injury. The defense will have an opportunity to challenge the alleged speed, the circumstances surrounding Aipa’s request, the reliability of any video evidence, and the prosecution’s account of causation.