Man Arrested in Connection with Deadly Palisades Fire
A suspect has been charged in connection with the deadly Palisades Fire that swept through the Los Angeles area early in the year. Read on for the details of the arrest.
Man Arrested in Connection with California's Deadly Palisades Fire
A 29-year-old man from Florida has been charged with destruction of property by means of fire. According to Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. attorney for Southern California, Jonathan Rinderknecht is facing a federal charge in connection with the January 2025 wildfire. The Palisades Fire destroyed thousands of homes and killed 12 people.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference on Wednesday that the investigation into the cause of the fire was "lengthy and complex." The blaze had been listed as "under investigation" for months as authorities sorted through the rubble to look for evidence.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta had previously indicated that investigators were looking into the possibility of arson. The investigation was led by 15 members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Response Team. This leadership signaled that authorities had honed in on the potential of arson from the beginning.
Law enforcement officials said that the suspect had repeatedly watched a rap video containing images of objects being set on fire in the days before the blaze started. Essayli also said that Rinderknecht used ChatGPT to produce a painting showing a burning forest and a crowd running from the flames in the months leading up to the deadly tragedy.
While Rinderknecht is living in Florida now, he was working as an Uber driver and living in the Pacific Palisades last January. He is expected to appear in federal court in Orlando on Wednesday to face the charges.
Interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva said that the ignition of the fire was deliberate and was "intended to cause devastating harm to the city of Los Angeles."
Details of Palisades Fire
The Palisades Fire started on the morning of January 7. Another fire had come to life just six days earlier in the same general area, according to dispatch recordings from that week. Known as the Lachman Fire, the earlier event was contained in a matter of hours by local firefighters, topping out at just eight acres. The Los Angeles Fire Department noted that they would keep a crew on the scene to keep that fire contained so that there would be no further flare-ups.
Due to the proximity of the two fires, authorities had wondered if the high winds in the area at the time could have spread some of the smoldering debris left from the first blaze. As a result, arson was not the first consideration when the Palisades Fire exploded.
Officials now say that Rinderknecht had just dropped off an Uber passenger on New Year's Eve when he started the Lachman Fire a mere 12 minutes into the new year. The suspect took iPhone videos of the view and listened to music before starting the fire, fleeing the scene in his vehicle.
The Palisades wildfire will go down in history as one of the most destructive fires in U.S. history. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the blaze is now the ninth deadliest in state history. The fire is also marked as the third-most destructive wildfire in Southern California history.
The final data confirmed that the Palisades Fire burned over 23,000 acres on its way to destroying thousands of homes. Not surprisingly, the fire is also expected to end up as one of the costliest infernos in U.S. history when the final economic damage figures are confirmed.
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