Chimneys stand among the many rubble after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on Jan. 8, 2025.
Agustin Paullier | AFP | Getty Images
Federal authorities introduced Wednesday that they’ve arrested and charged a Florida man with maliciously beginning the lethal Palisades Fire, one of the destructive blazes in Los Angeles historical past.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is charged with destruction of property by the use of fire, in keeping with a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, which is prosecuting him.
Right after allegedly igniting the inferno early New Year’s Day, Rinderknecht “listened to a rap song, which has a music video that includes things being lit on fire,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
“Rinderknecht listened to the song repeatedly in the prior days,” the workplace stated.
Rinderknecht, who beforehand lived in Pacific Palisades, California, was arrested on Tuesday in Florida.
The Melbourne resident appeared Wednesday earlier than a federal courtroom decide in Orlando, Florida, and was ordered briefly detained with out bail pending one other courtroom listening to there on Thursday.
The Palisades Fire in early January burned 1000’s of houses and killed 12 individuals as flames unfold quickly in heavy winds as much as 100 miles per hour.
If Rinderknecht is convicted, he might face a compulsory minimal sentence of 5 years in jail and a statutory most sentence of 20 years.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom in an announcement on Wednesday referred to as the arrest “an important step toward uncovering how the horrific Palisades Fire began and bringing closure to the thousands of Californians whose lives were upended.”
“This tragedy will never be forgotten — lives were lost, families torn apart, and entire communities forever changed — and there must be accountability,” Newsom stated.
Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli
posts picture within the arrest of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht on a felony criticism charging him with maliciously beginning what grew to become the Palisades Fire in January.
Source: @USAttyEssayli | X
Authorities stated that witness statements, video surveillance, cellphone knowledge, and evaluation of fire dynamics and patterns on the scene confirmed that Rinderknecht maliciously set the Lachman Fire simply after midnight on January 1 on land owned by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a corporation that acquired federal funding.
Every week later, the identical fire – which by then had change into often known as the Palisades Fire – burned federal property.
“The complaint alleges that a single person’s recklessness caused one of the worst fires Los Angeles has ever seen, resulting in death and widespread destruction in Pacific Palisades,” Acting L.A. U.S Attorney Bill Essayli stated in an announcement.
“While we cannot bring back what victims lost, we hope this criminal case brings some measure of justice to those affected by this horrific tragedy,” Essayli stated.
In a post on X, Essayli stated proof was discovered from Rinderknecht’s digital units that confirmed “an image he generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city.”
A monitor exhibits AI-generated photographs that have been discovered on the pc of a Florida man that has been arrested on prices that he deliberately ignited the Pacific Palisades Fire, throughout a press convention with Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli and Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the Los Angeles Field Division Kenny Cooper, at their places of work in Los Angeles, California, U.S. Oct. 8, 2025.
Daniel Cole | Reuters
The damaging fire began on the night of Dec. 31, when Rinderknecht had been working a shift as an Uber driver.
According to the discharge, two passengers he drove in separate rides later advised legislation enforcement that they recalled Rinderknecht as “agitated and angry.”
After Rinderknecht dropped off a passenger within the space, he drove to Skulls Rock trailhead, the place he parked his automotive and tried to get in contact with a former buddy, authorities stated. He then walked up the path and used his iPhone to take movies.
Shortly after midnight on Jan. 1, environmental sensing platforms indicated the Lachman Fire had began. In the next minutes, Rinderknecht referred to as 911 a number of occasions, however since he was out of cellphone vary was unable to get via, in keeping with the discharge.
By the time he related with 911 and reported the fired, he had arrived on the finish of the climbing path, the discharge stated. A resident had already reported the fire at that time.
“Rinderknecht then fled in his car, passing fire engines driving in the opposite direction,” the discharge stated.
Authorities stated he then rotated and sped as much as observe the fire engines to the scene, the place he recorded extra movies of the scene from his cellphone.
Law enforcement interviewed Rinderknecht on Jan. 24.
He allegedly lied about the place he had been when he first noticed the Lachman Fire, claiming “he was near the bottom of a hiking trail when he first saw the fire and called 911.”
“But geolocation data from his iPhone carrier showed that he was standing in a clearing 30 feet from the fire as it rapidly grew,” in keeping with the information launch.