Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man accused of sparking the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles earlier this year, was arrested Tuesday.
Rinderknecht, now living in Melbourne, Florida, was charged with destruction of property by means of fire, according to a Wednesday news release published by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in California.
“The complaint alleges that a single person’s recklessness caused one of the worst fires Los Angeles has ever seen, resulting in death and widespread destruction in Pacific Palisades,” said Bill Essayli, acting U.S. attorney. “While we cannot bring back what victims lost, we hope this criminal case brings some measure of justice to those affected by this horrific tragedy.”
Rinderknecht, 29, maliciously started the Lachman Fire early on Jan. 1, according to the news release.
That blaze, which firefighters mistakenly thought had been extinguished, continued to silently burn before metastasizing into the Pacific Palisades Fire.
By Jan. 31, it had burned through more than 23,000 acres, killing 12 people and destroying nearly 7,000 buildings, according to KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.
It all began on New Year’s Eve, 2024, when Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver.
Two separate passengers noticed something was off about him that night; they later told police he appeared angry and agitated.
After dropping off a customer in the Pacific Palisades, where he used to live, Rinderknecht drove to Skull Rock Trailhead.
He hiked up the trail, and while on a hilltop, took some video and listened to a rap song, the same one he’d been playing for days, according to the news release.
The song’s music video reportedly featured content about things being set on fire.
NEW: Per the federal complaint vs the Palisades Fire arson suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht, he asked Chat GPT “Are you at fault if a fire is lift [sic] because of your cigarettes” shortly after cell phone data placed him at the scene of a fire breaking out in the Palisades in the… pic.twitter.com/SpEUqrlOwP
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 8, 2025
But during that time, something happened.
Just after midnight on Jan. 1, Rinderknecht called 911 several times, but couldn’t get through without cell phone service.
He was at the bottom of the trail before he finally made contact, but by then someone else had already reported the fire.
Rinderknecht drove away, but as fire trucks passed by, he turned around and followed them back to the trailhead.
He walked back up the same hill and started recording the scene with his phone.
When police later interviewed him on Jan. 24, he allegedly told them he was at the bottom of the hill when he first saw the fire.
But his cellphone’s location data told another story: He was reportedly 30 feet from the blaze when it first ignited.
The criminal complaint also accused Rinderknecht of trying to fabricate an alibi.
Some point after the fire had started, Rinderknecht asked ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, whether a cigarette could start a wildfire, Newsweek reported.
Investigators alleged this was merely an attempt to provide “a more innocent explanation for the cause of the fire.”
Contrary to Rinderknecht’s story, fire experts said the blaze was likely lit with a lighter.
ChatGPT, French rap and Uber: Authorities reveal new details about the Palisades Fire suspect’s trail of digital clues before the deadly blaze. Full story: https://t.co/2znSREa8xx pic.twitter.com/9WLtWfeDcl
— KTLA (@KTLA) October 8, 2025
On one of his devices, Rinderknecht reportedly had an AI-generated image of a burning city.
If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison, and a maximum of 20 years, according to the Justice Department news release.
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