The person accused of lighting the lethal Pacific Palisades hearth has been accused of threatening to burn down the house of his sister, in line with testimony given at his first court docket look.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, appeared in court docket in Orlando, FL, on Thursday, the place the ATF Particular Agent in Cost advised the court docket he responded to 2 alarming incidents involving Rinderknecht simply days aside in September, WESH reported.
On September 19, Rinderknecht allegedly threatened to burn down the house of his sister and brother-in-law, with whom he had been dwelling, having relocated from Southern California to Central Florida after he allegedly set the blaze that claimed the lives of 12 folks.
Then, on September 25, Rinderknecht’s father—visiting from France—alerted police over considerations that his son had entry to a firearm. The suspect’s father additionally alleged that his son had threatened to shoot his brother-in-law.
Whereas Rinderknecht claimed the weapon was locked in a secure, officers in the end discovered it hidden inside a stuffed animal within the storage. The suspect additionally advised police that he had made the risk in opposition to his brother -in-law in self protection.
Two younger kids had beforehand been dwelling within the house, however the household had moved out over considerations about Rinderknecht’s deteriorating psychological well being, the agent added.
The testimony was introduced on Thursday throughout a virtually 90-minute federal listening to in Orlando, the place a choose dominated that Rinderknecht will stay in U.S. Marshals’ custody.
Rinderknecht, who was arrested this week close to his present house in Melbourne, FL, appeared in court docket carrying an orange jumpsuit, with straight, lengthy brown hair, a beard, and a mustache.
He has been charged with destruction of property via hearth, nevertheless WESH reviews that prosecutors are exploring enhanced costs on account of aggravating elements, which may improve potential penalties past the usual 5–20 years, probably even together with the loss of life penalty.
Rinderknecht’s arrest was introduced by the Division of Justice (DOJ) at a press convention Oct. 8, the place Performing United States Legal professional Invoice Essayli shared his need to “carry some measure of justice” to all these impacted by the devastating Palisades hearth.
“The grievance alleges {that a} single particular person’s recklessness prompted one of many worst fires Los Angeles has ever seen, leading to loss of life and widespread destruction in Pacific Palisades,” he mentioned of the allegations made in opposition to the suspect.
“Whereas we can’t carry again what victims misplaced, we hope this prison case brings some measure of justice to these affected by this horrific tragedy.”
In keeping with the DOJ, legislation enforcement officers imagine that the Palisades hearth was a “holdover” of a blaze that they are saying was sparked deliberately by Rinderknecht on New Yr’s Day.
The Los Angeles Fireplace Division believed that that they had suppressed the unique blaze, known as the Lachman hearth, nevertheless it was later discovered to have continued—ultimately spreading to turn into the Palisades hearth.
“A multi-agency investigation into the origin and reason for the huge Palisades Fireplace in Los Angeles, California, on January 7, 2025, has decided that it was a ‘holdover’ hearth, i.e., a continuation of the Lachman Fireplace that started close by early within the morning on January 1, 2025,” ATF agent William M. Schry states in an sworn affidavit filed in assist of Rinderknecht’s arrest.
“Though the Los Angeles Metropolis Fireplace Division (“LAFD”) shortly suppressed the Lachman Fireplace on January 1, unbeknownst to anybody the hearth continued to smolder and burn underground, inside the root construction of dense vegetation. On January 7, heavy winds prompted the underground hearth to floor and unfold above floor in what turned the Palisades Fireplace.”
Investigators say that Rinderknecht had been working as an Uber driver when the hearth broke out and that he had dropped off a passenger not removed from the place the blaze initially started.
Cellphone and digital camera information revealed that he was the one particular person to have been within the space—which is positioned close to a preferred mountaineering path on Temescal Ridge—when the hearth was sparked.
At 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025, environmental sensing platforms indicated the Lachman hearth had begun. The investigation discovered that, through the subsequent 5 minutes, Rinderknecht known as 911 a number of occasions however could not get by way of as a result of his iPhone was out of mobile phone vary.
When he lastly related with 911, he advised the emergency companies operator that he was on the backside of the mountaineering path when he had seen the hearth. By that time, a close-by resident already had already reported the blaze to authorities.
Investigators say Rinderknecht then left the scene in his automotive, passing hearth engines driving in the wrong way. He then circled and adopted the hearth engines again to the path, driving at excessive speeds in an obvious try and sustain with them.
Rinderknecht allegedly returned to the identical path that he had walked up earlier within the evening to observe the firefighters battle the blaze and, at roughly 1:02 a.m., he used his iPhone to take extra movies of the scene.
The DOJ says that in an interview with legislation enforcement on Jan. 24, 2025, Rinderknecht lied about the place he was when he first noticed the Lachman Fireplace. Though he claimed he was close to the underside of the path when he first noticed the hearth and known as 911, geolocation information from his iPhone confirmed that he was standing in a clearing simply 30 toes from the hearth because it quickly grew.
Essayli posted on X that among the many digital proof collected through the investigation was a picture reportedly created by Rinderknecht utilizing ChatGPT that depicted a burning metropolis.
