Palisades Fire Suspect Arrested By Feds; Suspect’s First Court Date Set

In a revelation that overturns much of previous investigation into the devastating Pacific Palisades Fire, the Department of Justice today said the blaze was a “holdover” fire from a blaze that had been set a week prior which, federal prosecutors said today, was the result of the actions of a 29-year-old Uber driver.

As Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested Wednesday in Florida for inferno that killed over a dozen people and decimated over 5,400 homes, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Central District of California and other law enforcement unveiled a criminal complaint against the ex-Palisades resident.

“People do evil things for whatever reason,” Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper of the LA. Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bluntly said at a press conference this morning after Rinderknecht’s arrest. “I’m not going to speculate or go into anything of that, like we have evidence of that, that will be addressed in trial, but evil people do evil things.”

READ THE CRIMINAL COMPLAINT AGAINST JONATHAN RINDERKNECHT HERE

Under the present charges of destruction of property by means of fire, which includes property that receives federal funding, if found guilty Rinderknecht is looking at a mandatory minimum sentence of five years behind bars, and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

“A multi-agency investigation into the origin and cause of the massive Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, California, on January 7, 2025, has determined that it was a ‘holdover’ fire, i.e., a continuation of the Lachman Fire that began nearby early in the morning on January 1, 2025,” the complaint states, detailing how an “agitated” Rinderknecht walked up Skull Rock Trailhead on NYE after dropping off Uber passengers just before midnight.

“The investigative team determined that the cause of the Lachman Fire was incendiary, i.e., an intentional ignition of a fire in an area or under circumstances where or when there should not be a fire,” the filing adds. “The cause of the fire was determined to be the introduction of an open flame (likely a lighter) to a combustible material such as vegetation or paper.”

While the specific cause of the raging fire that left most of the Palisades destroyed is TBD, the complaint notes that Rinderknecht at one point asked ChatGPT if “you at fault if a fire is lift [sic] because of your cigarettes.” Back in 2024, Rinderknecht created an image of a burning city (see below from the federal complaint) on his phone using ChatGPT.

Additionally, as well as calling 9-1-1 unsuccessfully several times due to bad reception on the trail, the suspect took video on his iPhone in the Hidden Buddha clearing area and played the harsh French hip hop Un Zder, Un The (which depicts fires being set in urban protests in its video) over and over in the days before the fires. Later that early early New Year’s morning, Rinderknecht drove away from the area as LAFD started arriving on the scene, making a gesture to assist the firefighters, the complaint says.

The Lachman Fire was quickly contained but appears to have rekindled after it was presumed to be extinguished – leading to the Palisades fire amidst crushing heat and hurricane level Santa Ana winds on January 7.

According to acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the suspect is expected to make a court appearance later Wednesday in the Sunshine State and will be sent to the Golden State in the coming week to face the current charges and perhaps more.

In a statement this morning, Governor Gavin Newsom said: “Today’s arrest of 29-year-old Florida resident Jonathan Rinderknecht marks an important step toward uncovering how the horrific Palisades Fire began and bringing closure to the thousands of Californians whose lives were upended. This tragedy will never be forgotten — lives were lost, families torn apart, and entire communities forever changed — and there must be accountability. We thank the U.S. Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their thorough investigation into this fire and for confirming the indisputable facts on the ground. The state will continue to fully support this investigation and we look forward to the findings of the independent after-action report we’ve commissioned from the nation’s leading fire safety researchers.”

Of course, this being the deeply divided United States of America, even a tragedy like the fires that burned most of the Palisades and other neighborhoods like Altadena (where over 30 people
were killed and more than 16,000 buildings burned to the ground), partisan politics became part of today’s news.

A day after a combative appearance on Capitol Hill, Attorney General Pam Bondi added her two cents Wednesday morning as the Rinderknecht arrest was made public, with a swipe at Donald Trump foes Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. Praising Essayli and others involved in the case in a tweet, Bondi promised the DOJ “will deliver justice for the Palisades Fire and keep Californians safe — even if California leadership won’t.”