Palisades Fire suspect hit with new charges in grand jury indictment

The 29-year-old man accused of starting what became the devastating Palisades Fire was hit with two new charges this week after being indicted by a federal grand jury, the Justice Department announced. 

Jonathan Rinderknecht of Melbourne, Florida, who previously was charged with destruction of property by means of fire, is now facing one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

“A federal grand jury today indicted a former resident of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles who is charged with starting in January 2025 what eventually became the Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history, adding two felonies to his criminal case,” the Attorney’s Office said. 

It cited court documents as saying that, “law enforcement determined that the Palisades Fire was a ‘holdover’ fire — a continuation of the Lachman Fire that began early in the morning on New Year’s Day 2025.” 

WHO IS JONATHAN RINDERKNECHT, PALISADES FIRE SUSPECT ACCUSED OF SPARKING DEADLY BLAZE? 

“Law enforcement determined — using witness statements, video surveillance, cellphone data, and analysis of fire dynamics and patterns at the scene, among other things — that Rinderknecht maliciously set the Lachman Fire just after midnight on January 1 on land owned by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), an organization that received federal funding,” the Attorney’s Office said. “A week later, the same fire — then known as the Palisades Fire — burned federal property.” 

Prosecutors allege Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver on the evening of Dec. 31, 2024, and that two passengers he drove on separate trips late that night told law enforcement they remembered him appearing “agitated and angry.” 

PASSENGER SAYS UBER DRIVER ACCUSED IN PALISADES FIRE WAS ‘NUT JOB’ WHO RANTED ABOUT TRUMP 

“After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, Rinderknecht — who once lived in that neighborhood — drove towards Skull Rock Trailhead, parked his car, attempted to contact a former friend, and walked up the trail. He then used his iPhone to take videos at a nearby hilltop area and listened to a rap song — to which he had listened repeatedly in previous days — whose music video included things being lit on fire,” according to the Attorney’s Office. 

“At 12:12 a.m. on January 1, 2025, environmental sensing platforms indicated the Lachman Fire had begun,” it also said. “During an interview with law enforcement on January 24, 2025, Rinderknecht lied about where he was when he first saw the Lachman Fire. He claimed he was near the bottom of a hiking trail when he first saw the fire and called 911, but geolocation data from his iPhone carrier showed that he was standing in a clearing 30 feet from the fire as it rapidly grew.” 

 

Rinderknecht was arrested on Oct. 7, 2025, and is expected to be arraigned at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.