The Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on Wednesday that a Florida man who previously worked as an Uber driver was arrested in connection with the deadly attack. Palisades Fire Which attacked Los Angeles in January.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, of Melbourne, Florida, was charged with destruction of property by means of fire, according to the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essaly. statement,
The suspect was scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Wednesday afternoon.
“Although we cannot bring back what the victims have lost, we hope [federal] “The criminal case brings a measure of justice to those affected by this terrible tragedy,” Essaly said in a statement.
Palisades Fire 23,448 acres of land was burnt Between January 7-31, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. At least 12 people died and thousands of houses Were The destroyed,
investigators determined flame The fire was a “holdover” from the Lachman fire that started on January 1. While firefighters brought that blaze under control, it “continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of dense vegetation.” A few days later, high winds caused an underground fire above the soil, according to the press release.
Through witness statements, video surveillance, cell phone data and the patterns and dynamics of the fire, investigators also determined that Rinderknecht “maliciously opened fire at Lachman just after midnight on January 1,” Essaly’s office said.
The suspect was working as an Uber driver on Dec. 31, 2024, when two separate passengers said he “seemed agitated and angry,” the statement said. He took them off and drove to the Skull Rock Trailhead in Pacific Palisades, where he once lived.
He parked his car and walked down the trail, Essaly’s office said, “and listened to a rap song – which he had heard repeatedly in the past day – whose music video involved setting things on fire.”
Speaking to investigators on January 24, Rinderknecht told officers he was near the bottom of the trail when he first saw it. FireBefore he called 911. Geolocation data from her iPhone carrier placed her location 30 feet away from the growing fire, the press release continued.
“Among the evidence collected from their digital devices was an image created on ChatGPT that depicted a burning city,” Essaali said in a post. social platform x“While we cannot compensate for the damage and destruction that was caused, we hope his arrest and the charges against him will bring some measure of justice to the victims of this terrible tragedy.”
If Rinderknecht is convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Attorney General Pam Bondi praised Essay and federal agents for the “significant” arrest of Rinderknecht. A post on X.
,[The Justice Department] “Palisades will bring justice for the fires and keep Californians safe – even if California leadership won’t,” he wrote.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), in a post onlinedescribed Rinderknecht’s arrest as “an important step toward uncovering how the catastrophic Palisades fire started and claimed the lives of thousands of Californians whose lives were disrupted.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) also attended.
“More than nine months ago, our city faced one of the most devastating periods our region has ever seen,” Bass said in a statement. statement,
He later said, “Each day that families are displaced is a very long day and as we work tirelessly to bring Angelenos home, we are also working toward closure and justice – and today is a step forward in that process.”
