A 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged with igniting the fire that days later became the devastating Palisades blaze, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures in one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history.
Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested near his Florida residence on federal charges of destruction of property by means of fire, acting US attorney for the central district of California, Bill Essayli, announced on Wednesday. No motive was presented.
The investigators allege Rinderknecht maliciously started what became the Lachman fire, shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day in the Pacific Palisades. That fire smoldered underground for nearly a week before resurfacing on 7 January amid heavy winds, spreading rapidly to become the Palisades fire, investigators say.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said a wide-ranging investigation it conducted in past months raked in more than 13,000 items of evidence, and included hundreds of interviews – some overseas – and more than 200 leads. Investigators also documented over 300 ATF reports, including a 200 page report detailing the origin and cause of the investigation.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, a suspect in the Palisades fire. Photograph: AP
According to Essayli, Rinderknecht, who was a Palisades resident before relocating to Florida, had been working as an Uber driver on New Year’s Eve and returned to the Pacific Palisades after his evening shift. Two passengers told law enforcement he appeared “agitated and angry” that night, Essayli said.
After dropping off a passenger, according to the investigators, Rinderknecht parked his car and walked up a nearby trail, taking iPhone videos at a hilltop location while listening to a rap song whose music video included objects being set alight. He had reportedly listened to the song and watched its video repeatedly in the days before the fire.
Law enforcement identified and interviewed Rinderknecht on 24 January. During questioning, he allegedly lied about his location when he first saw the fire, claiming he was near the bottom of a hiking trail. However, geolocation data from his 911 call showed he was standing above the fire in a clearing merely 30ft from the blaze as it rapidly grew, prosecutors said.
Among the digital evidence collected was an image Rinderknecht had generated on ChatGPT months before the fire, depicting what Essayli described as “a dystopian painting showing in part a burning forest and a crowd fleeing from it”.
The Palisades fire was one of several major blazes that encircled Los Angeles in early January. The blaze destroyed more than 6,800 structures, including homes and businesses, and damaged over 1,000 more buildings. A fire that broke out the same day in nearby Altadena killed nearly 20 people. Investigators haven’t yet determined the cause of that fire.
Rinderknecht faces a mandatory minimum five-year federal prison sentence if convicted, with a maximum penalty of up to 20 years. He was scheduled to make his initial appearance on Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Orlando,