Hillside resident E.V. walks around his neighborhood Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, off Rambla Pacifico Street where most homes burned to the ground after the Palisades Fire.
Los Angeles, California – A federal grand jury has indicted a 29-year-old former Los Angeles resident accused of starting the Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in the city’s history, adding two felony counts to his case.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, who also goes by “Jon Rinder,” is charged with destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and timber set afire — all serious felonies that could carry up to 45 years in federal prison if he’s convicted.
Rinderknecht has been in custody since his arrest on October 7. Prosecutors say his actions on New Year’s Day 2025 led to a blaze that would smolder for a week before erupting into the inferno known as the Palisades Fire, devastating large swaths of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and damaging both state and federal lands.
According to court documents, investigators determined that the fire began as what they call a “holdover” — the remnants of an earlier blaze, the Lachman Fire, which ignited just after midnight on January 1, 2025. Though firefighters initially contained it, the flames continued to burn underground in the root systems of dense vegetation. By January 7, heavy winds reignited the smoldering area, turning it into the Palisades Fire, which swept through canyons and homes, forcing hundreds to evacuate.
Authorities allege that Rinderknecht deliberately set the original fire that New Year’s morning on property owned by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a state agency that receives federal funding. That link to federal land and funding brought the case under federal jurisdiction.
Prosecutors say Rinderknecht, who once lived in the Palisades, had been working as an Uber driver on the night of the fire. Witnesses told investigators that he seemed “agitated and angry” while driving passengers shortly before the blaze began. After dropping off his last fare, Rinderknecht allegedly drove toward Skull Rock Trailhead, parked, and hiked up the trail alone. Data from his iPhone later placed him at the site of the fire within minutes of ignition.
Investigators say Rinderknecht took videos from a nearby hilltop while listening to a rap song whose music video featured objects being set on fire. Environmental sensors recorded the first signs of the Lachman Fire at 12:12 a.m., just moments later. Rinderknecht called 911 several times, but his phone was out of range; when he finally reached dispatchers, the blaze was already reported by nearby residents.
Prosecutors say he fled the scene, then returned minutes later, speeding behind fire engines and filming the flames from the same trail where the fire started.
When questioned weeks later, Rinderknecht allegedly lied about where he was when he first saw the fire. Cell data showed he was standing 30 feet from the ignition point — not at the bottom of the trail, as he told police.
If convicted, Rinderknecht faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 45 years in federal prison. His arraignment in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles is expected in the coming weeks.
