Accused Palisades Arsonist Faces 3 New Charges

Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht was indicted on three new charges, including two felonies.

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns homes on the Pacific Coast Highway during a powerful windstorm in Los Angeles on Jan. 8, 2025. The wildfire resulted in the death of 12 residents, forced thousands to evacuate their homes, and rendered entire neighborhoods uninhabitable. Apu Gomes/Getty Images

The Florida man accused of igniting the deadly Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles was indicted Oct. 15 on three new charges, including two felonies.

“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 Justice Department said in a statement.​

Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old Uber driver based in Melbourne, Florida, was charged with one count of destruction of property by means of fire, one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and one count of timber set afire. He was already charged with destruction of property by means of fire after he was arrested on Oct. 7.​

Prosecutors said Rinderknecht, after dropping off passengers for Uber, drove to the Skull Rock Trailhead in the late hours of Dec. 31, 2024, and hiked up a trail while streaming a music video of a rap song, which showed “things being lit on fire.”​

The title and artists of the track were not named. Prosecutors said that Rinderknecht listened to it “repeatedly” in the days leading up to the fire.

Prosecutors said that “environmental sensing platforms” suggest the Lachman Fire, eventually renamed the Palisades Fire, started at 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025.

​“During the next five minutes, Rinderknecht called 911 several times, but didn’t get through because his iPhone was out of cellphone range,” prosecutors said. “When he finally connected with 911, he was at the bottom of the hiking trail and reported the fire. By that point, a nearby resident had already reported the fire to authorities.”

Rinderknecht initially fled the area but walked up the same trail around 1:02 a.m. to take videos of the scene and is accused of lying to authorities about where he was when he first saw the blaze, prosecutors alleged.​

The initial fire was “quickly suppressed” but smoldered underground until Jan. 7, when heavy winds caused the blaze to resurface and spread above ground, according to prosecutors.

Rinderknecht faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a statutory maximum of 45 years in federal prison, if convicted.

​His arraignment will take place in the “coming weeks” at the United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

The Epoch Times reached out to an attorney representing Rinderknecht for comment.

The Palisades Fire killed 12 people, destroyed over 6,800 structures, and burned through over 23,400 acres before it was extinguished almost a month later on Jan. 31, 2025.

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of the Lachman Fire. The Epoch Times regrets the error.