A arrest has been made in relation to the Palisades fire, which caused generalized destruction in Los Angeles County and killed a dozen people earlier this year, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is accused of “maliciously” lighting a fire on January 1 in Las Palisadas del Pacífico that finally exploded in the Palisades fire, said the Department of Justice.
The New Year’s Brush Fire was suppressed by fire crews, but continued burning underground before the strong winds caused the surface to be extended almost a week later, “causing what was known as the fire of Palisades, one of the most destructive forest fires in the history of the city of Los Angeles,” said the US lawyer Bill Essiseli during a press conference of the press Wednesday.
An aerial view shows the devastation left by the fire of Palisades in the Palisades section of the Los Angeles Pacific, on January 27, 2025.
JAE C. HONG/AP
Rinderknecht has been accused of a criminal complaint of destruction of property through the fire. He was arrested on Tuesday near his residence in Florida and is scheduled to make his first appearance in the court in the Federal Court of Orlando on Wednesday, authorities said.
The Palisades fire broke out on January 7, burning more than 23,000 acres in more than three weeks and destroying almost 7,000 structures, according to California firefighters.
He lit the same day as Eaton Fire, who burned more than 14.00 acres in Los Angeles County, destroying more than 9,400 structures and killing 19 people, according to officials.
The fires began to burn during the strong winds of Santa Ana, which, combined with dry conditions, helped their ability to extend rapidly. This spread caused mass evacuations.
The fire of Palisades decimated the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
What was known as the Lachman fire was detected at 12:12 am on January 1 in a hill in Las Palisadas del Pacífico, according to the Department of Justice.
Rinderknecht, whom the Department of Justice said he was working as an Uber driver at that time and once lived in Las Palisadas del Pacífico, had left a client in the fire area, according to the complaint. Two of his passengers that night supposedly told the police later that it seemed “agitated and angry,” the complaint declared.
The complaint alleges that Rinderknecht caused the fire when lighting a combustible material, such as vegetation or paper, with an open flame, probably a lighter.
He tried to contact 911 several times to inform the fire, before passing once he had cell service, according to the complaint. Supposedly he made a three -minute screen recording of his iPhone while trying to call 911 and ask Chatgpt: “Do you have the blame if a fire rises? [sic] Due to your cigarettes? “According to the complaint.
“According to my training and experience and this research, this indicates that Rinderknecht wanted to preserve the evidence of himself trying to help in the suppression of the fire and wanted to create evidence with respect to a more innocent explanation of the cause of the fire”, a special agent with the office of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives wrote in a affidavit in the complaint.
Essayli said the suspect left in his car, but then returned and filmed firefighters who responded to the fire.
Jonathan Rinderknecht is seen in a photo published by the Department of Justice.
Department of Justice
There are no indications that someone else was in the area at the time the fire began, Essayli said.
The investigators interviewed Rinderknecht on January 24, during which he allegedly lied to where he was when he saw Lachman’s fire, according to the Department of Justice.
“He said he was near the bottom of a hiking route when he first saw the fire and called 911, but the geolocation data of his iPhone bearer showed that he was stopped 30 feet from the fire as he grew up quickly,” said the Department of Justice in a press release.
Essayli said he did not want to discuss the reason, although he pointed out the digital evidence included in the complaint of an image that Rinderknecht supposedly generated in July 2024 using chatgpt, partly showing “a burning forest and a multitude fleeing from it.”
“You could see part of its thought process in the previous months, where it was generating some really worrying images in Chatgpt, which seems to show a dystopian city that is burning,” said Essayli.
The position is punished with up to 20 years in a federal prison if he is convicted, said the Department of Justice.
Essayli said the Department of Justice will make determinations on additional positions against Rinderknecht in the next few days.
Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell described the investigation into the “extremely intensive and thorough” Palisades fire.
“I am proud of the professionalism and dedication shown by our detectives and the team that works in collaboration with our federal, state and local partners,” he said during the press conference. “That teamwork finally led to the arrest of the suspect responsible for this devastating crime.”
In the last eight months, the researchers pursued more than 200 potential clients, conducted hundreds of interviews and collected more than 13,000 tests, including fire remains, digital data and DNA samples, as part of the investigation, according to Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge of the alcohol, tobacco office, firearms and field division of Los Angeles de los Angeles.
“We have many different data that concluded where this fire began, and the behavior of the fire of that origin, of that fire of Lachman, was clearly established in the fire of Palisades,” Cooper said in the press information.
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said that the city will publish the report of the Los Angeles Fire Department on the Palisades fire “shortly”, now that an arrest has been made.
“More than 9 months ago, our city faced one of the most devastating periods that our region had seen. Lives were lost tragically. Thousands of houses were destroyed. Our heroic firefighters fought against the fire without rest,” he said in a statement. “Every day that families are displaced, it is too long and while we are working tirelessly to take Angelenos home, we are also working for closing and justice, and today is a step forward in that process.”
