Officials arrest man in Florida on suspicion of starting devastating Palisades fire

Nine months after a raging inferno decimated the Los Angeles area, claiming the lives of a dozen people and burning down thousands of homes and businesses, officials have arrested a suspect in Florida on suspicion of arson.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is facing a federal charge of destruction of property by means of fire, according to Bill Essayli, the acting US attorney for Southern California.

The suspect did not enter a plea at a federal court appearance on Wednesday (US time) in Orlando. The suspect, who worked as an Uber driver and lived in the Pacific Palisades at the time, is under arrest on suspicion of arson in connection with the Palisades fire.

Authorities painted a picture of a man singularly focused on a city going up in flames at a news conference on Wednesday, saying the suspect repeatedly watched a rap video that included "objects being lit on fire" in the days before allegedly setting the fire.

The suspect also allegedly prompted ChatGPT to generate a "dystopian painting showing in part a burning forest and a crowd fleeing from it", in the months before the fire started, according to Bill Essayli, the acting US attorney for Southern California.

The federal criminal complaint provides additional detail about the prompt the suspect allegedly used, offering insight into Rinderknecht's state of mind.

Rinderknecht asked the chatbot for a "dystopian painting divided into distinct parts that blend together seamlessly. On the far left, there is a burning forest. Next to it, a crowd of people is running away from the fire, leading to the middle. In the middle, hundreds of thousands of people in poverty are trying to get past a gigantic gate with a big dollar sign on it. On the other side of the gate and the entire wall is a conglomerate of the richest people. They are chilling, watching the world burn down, and watching the people struggle".

The suspect also told ChatGPT he wanted to highlight "the stark contrast and the direct connection between the different parts of the world" in the image.

A federal judge appointed a public defender to represent Rinderknecht and continued his preliminary and detention hearing until Thursday morning.

Rinderknecht will remain in custody at least until that hearing, according to court records.

CNN has contacted Rinderknecht's attorney for comment but did not immediately hear back.

"As the world watched in horror as the Palisades fire burned, victims perished in the smoke and flames. Homes where cherished family memories and belongings were turned to rubble and ash. The iconic Pacific Coast Highway along Malibu looked like a war zone," Essayli said.

"Thousands of people were forced to evacuate. The homes and businesses cannot be rebuilt. This arrest, we hope, will provide a measure of justice to all those who were impacted."

Suspect took videos of the view before allegedly starting the fire

The suspect was working as an Uber driver and dropped off a passenger on New Year's Eve before walking up a nearby trail where he took some iPhone videos of the view and listened to the rap song, before allegedly starting a fire 12 minutes into the new year, officials said.

The blaze became known as the Lachman fire, and it grew to eight acres before firefighters were able to knock it down, according to alerts from the Los Angeles Fire Department, which noted a team would work to ensure no flare-ups occurred.

"It took the defendant several tries to contact 911 to report the fire," Essayli said. "He fled the scene in his car, but turned around after passing fire engines driving in the opposite direction to fight the fire."

While Rinderknecht was attempting to contact authorities, he used ChatGPT again to ask, "Are you at fault if a fire is lift (sic) because of your cigarettes," the complaint says.

Investigators later ruled out cigarettes as a possible cause based on weather conditions at the time, according to the complaint.

Instead, they determined it was likely started using a lighter to set fire to paper or vegetation, the document says.

The Palisades fire, which began the morning of 7 January, has been determined to be a "holdover" fire, according to the complaint, meaning it started from the dormant remnants of an earlier blaze - likely the Lachman fire in this case.

The proximity of the two fires had prompted questions as to whether winds could have rekindled smouldering debris left from New Year's Eve fireworks to trigger the Palisades fire, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post.

LAFD had suppressed the Lachman fire on 1 January, the complaint says, but it "continued to smoulder and burn underground" unnoticed.

"The investigation into the Palisades fire of January 2025 was lengthy, complex and, as I mentioned, extremely thorough," Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined the fire "was ignited with an open flame", Essayli said.

Essayli declined to speak to Rinderknecht's motive.

"Part of the lengthy time that it took to go over the thousands of acres that were burned is we literally had agents with our partners on their hands and knees crawling through fire debris," said ATF special agent in charge Kenny Cooper.

"This action was deliberate, intended to cause devastating harm to the City of Los Angeles. This arrest is a critical step toward ensuring accountability, justice, and healing for our city," interim LAFD chief Ronnie Villanueva said in a statement following the announcement of Rinderknecht's arrest. "Although the flames have been extinguished, the impact of these fires will linger for years to come."

California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CNN earlier this year there were "some indications that arson is a possibility that we have to be open to".

Fifteen members of the ATF's National Response Team headed up the investigation into the fire's "cause and origins," ATF deputy assistant director Tim Jones previously told CNN.

The Palisades wildfire is the ninth deadliest wildfire in state history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The deadly inferno in Los Angeles is the third-most destructive wildfire in Southern California history, destroying thousands of homes and businesses and burning more than 23,000 acres.

"Our heroic firefighters fought the blaze valiantly with no rest," Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. "Each day that families are displaced is a day too long and as we are working tirelessly to bring Angelenos home, we are also working towards closure and towards justice - and today is a step forward in that process."

The fire was anticipated to be among the costliest wildfires in the history of the United States, a climate expert predicted.

"While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy," Essayli said in a social media post.

-CNN