A Huntington Beach man who is part of a well-known surf family has been charged in connection with a murder-for-hire plot.

Joseph Jordan Taylor, 29, was charged Thursday with solicitation of murder and attempted murder after he tried to hire undercover police officers posing as hitmen to kill an unidentified woman, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Details about the would-be victim and how the killing was to take place were not released. Taylor was arrested Tuesday after agreeing to pay undercover officers for the woman’s death, authorities said.

Three other men also were arrested in connection with the suspected murder-for-hire plot, but they were released without being charged, pending further investigation, said Huntington Beach Police Officer Jennifer Marlatt. The men are Taylor’s 27-year-old brother, Matthew Austin Taylor; their 36-year-old friend Travis James Sprague; and the brothers’ 67-year-old father, John Reid Taylor, who was part of a group inducted into Huntington Beach’s Surfing Walk of Fame in 2011.

Only Joseph Taylor was still being held Thursday afternoon, Marlatt said.

At an arraignment Thursday afternoon at the West Justice Center in Westminster, Joseph Taylor, in handcuffs, looked ahead intently and spoke little, only in response to the judge. He did not enter a plea, and his arraignment was continued to May 22.

He faces a sentence enhancement for premeditation and deliberation. His bail was raised from $1 million to $3 million at the request of the prosecutor.

“Mr. Taylor, we believe, has the means to make $1 million bail,” said Deputy District Attorney Jess Rodriguez, adding that Taylor’s family has an accessible yacht in Newport Beach and he recently spent time in Mexico. “Once it happens, our fear is he will flee.”

Joseph Taylor was ordered to surrender his passport and to stay away from the woman he reportedly targeted.

Huntington Beach police initiated an investigation last week into a conspiracy to commit murder for hire based on information provided by the FBI, police said in a statement.

Undercover detectives ultimately met with Joseph Taylor and negotiated a price to kill a person well-known to the group, police said. It appears financial gain was the motive, officials said.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, he agreed to pay the hitmen more money after the deed was done.

Court records show that Joseph Taylor has five prior convictions: for kidnapping and carjacking in 2009, a DUI causing injury and hit-and-run with great bodily injury in 2007, and making criminal threats in 2007.

The surf community expressed shock Thursday morning that the Taylors, well-known Huntington Beach surfers, had been arrested.

The father, John Taylor, was part of the “Hole in the Wall gang” that was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame on Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in 2011.

According to the Walk of Fame bio, the Huntington Beach resident grew up on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach and in Long Beach, sailing and surfing through his youth.

He made his first balsa wood surfboard in the eighth grade. After graduating high school in Long Beach, he moved to Huntington Beach and started making fiber glass molds and surfing for the Hole in the Wall surf team.

At 23, he opened his own surf businesses, The Little House of Repair and John Taylor Surfboards.

The family and the business aren’t associated with Dan Taylor Surfboards in Costa Mesa.

He also was an outstanding tandem surfer and held first place in the Western Surfing Association and the United States Championships for 15 years. He placed first in the 1978 Hawaiian United States Championships.

John Taylor also worked for Infinity Surfboards for 32 years.

The younger brother, Matt Taylor of Long Beach, was a standout surfer while on the Huntington Beach High School surf team about 10 years ago. He grew up surfing the amateur circuit on the National Scholastic Surfing Association, according to Huntington Beach surf photographer John Salanoa.

“He had a promising surfing career. He was doing all the right moves,” Salanoa said. “It’s unbelievable to hear the turn of events that have happened in the past few days. I’m guessing everything will play itself out and the truth will come out with time.”

Salanoa said Matt Taylor was a staple in the Huntington Beach surf scene and was a very excited and animated kid back in the day.

“Matt and his dad are staples at the pier. They have legacy there,” Salanoa said.

Court records show that Matthew Taylor and John Taylor had minor infractions but no serious criminal records.

Joseph Taylor also was a standout surfer growing up, but through the years struggled with a substance-abuse problem, Salanoa said.

The fourth person arrested, Sprague, also was a surfer known in the Huntington Beach community.

Salanoa said Sprague, a Long Beach resident, was a “really good, normal kid,” but court records show he has had multiple run-ins with police.

In 2002, Sprague pleaded guilty to counts including burglary, grand theft, unlawful taking of a vehicle, not stopping at a hit-and-run, and possessing a controlled substance while armed with a firearm.

Orange County court records show he faced an unidentified felony count in 2012 in Los Angeles County.

Police are asking anyone with information about the four men or the suspected murder-for-hire plot to call homicide Detective Mike Szyperski at the Huntington Beach Police Information Hotline at 714-375-5066.

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227). Information also can be submitted to the Crime Tip link on the Huntington Beach Police Department’s Facebook page, facebook.com/HuntingtonBeachPolice.

Staff writer Sean Emery contributed to this report.