The Department of Justice unveiled Wednesday that a Florida man previously working as an Uber driver was arrested in connection with the deadly Palisades Fire that struck Los Angeles in January.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, of Melbourne, Fla., was charged with destruction of property by means of fire, acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli’s office said in a statement.
The suspect was scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Wednesday afternoon.
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“While we cannot bring back what victims lost, we hope this [federal] criminal case brings some measure of justice to those affected by this horrific tragedy,” Essayli said in his statement.
The Palisades Fire burned 23,448 acres Jan. 7-31, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. At least 12 people died and thousands of homes were destroyed.
Investigators determined the blaze was a “holdover” from the Lachman Fire that started Jan. 1. While firefighters contained that fire, it “continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of dense vegetation.” Days later, heavy winds caused the underground fire above the soil, according to the press release.
Through witness statements, video surveillance, cell phone data and fire patterns and dynamics, investigators also determined that Rinderknecht “maliciously set the Lachman Fire just after midnight on Jan. 1,” Essayli’s office said.
The suspect had been working as an Uber driver on Dec. 31, 2024, when two separate passengers said he “appeared agitated and angry,” the statement reads. He dropped them off and drove toward Skull Rock Trailhead in Pacific Palisades, where he once lived.
He parked his car, walked up the trail “and listened to a rap song — to which he had listened repeatedly in previous days — whose music video included things being lit on fire,” Essayli’s office said.
Speaking with investigators on Jan. 24, Rinderknecht told authorities that he was near the bottom of the trail when he first saw the fire, before he called 911. Geolocation data from his iPhone carrier placed his location as 30 feet away from the growing fire, the press release continued.
“Among the evidence that was collected from his digital devices was an image he generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city,” Essayli said in a post on social platform X. “While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy.”
Rinderknecht, if convicted, faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
Attorney General Pam Bondi praised Essayli and federal agents for Rinderknecht’s “crucial” arrest in a post on X.
The Justice Department “will deliver justice for the Palisades Fire and keep Californians safe — even if California leadership won’t,” she wrote.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), in a post online, called Rinderknecht’s arrest “an important step toward uncovering how the horrific Palisades Fire began and bringing closure to the thousands of Californians whose lives were upended.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) also weighed in.
“More than nine months ago, our city faced one of the most devastating periods our region had ever seen,” Bass said in a statement.
She added later, “Each day that families are displaced is a day too long and as we are working tirelessly to bring Angelenos home, we are also working towards closure and towards justice — and today is a step forward in that process.”
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