The 29-year-old man accused of setting a New Year's Day fire that prosecutors say smoldered for a week and grew into what became the deadly Palisades Fire pleaded not guilty Thursday to a trio of federal charges.
Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on Oct. 7, but has since been transferred to Los Angeles and was being held at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom to 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.
Wearing white jail garb with a chain around his waist -- but not handcuffed -- Rinderknecht appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver, and spoke in a loud, clear voice as he pleaded "not guilty" to the charges. He also acknowledged to the judge that he understood the charges against him.
Oliver scheduled him to return to court Nov. 12 for a status conference, and a tentative trial was set for Dec. 16.
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Rinderknecht remains in federal custody, but his defense attorney, Steve Haney, indicated that he wanted to have a detention hearing to discuss possible bail or other release conditions. Haney said his client has no criminal record and no history of mental health problems or drug use.
The defense attorney also noted that Rinderknecht "is charged with a fire that started seven days after" he allegedly set a blaze in the hills above Pacific Palisades.
If convicted as charged, Rinderknecht would face a sentence of between five and 45 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, law enforcement officials 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. Although firefighters quickly suppressed the Lachman Fire, the fire continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of dense vegetation.
On Jan. 7, hurricane-force Santa Ana winds caused the underground fire to surface and spread above ground in what became known as the Palisades Fire, which caused widespread damage in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The fire burned 23,448 acres and destroyed much of the exclusive community, destroying about 6,800 structures and killing 12 people.
Using witness statements, video surveillance, cell phone data and analysis of fire dynamics and patterns at the scene, among other things, law enforcement determined that Rinderknecht "maliciously" set the Lachman Fire just after midnight on Jan. 1 on federal land, prosecutors said.
A week later, the same fire -- then known as the Palisades Fire -- spread throughout the area, prosecutors said.
On the evening of Dec. 31, 2024, Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver, prosecutors said. Two passengers he drove on separate trips between 10:15 and 11:15 p.m. that night later told law enforcement that they remembered Rinderknecht appeared agitated and angry, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, Rinderknecht -- who once lived in the neighborhood -- drove toward Skull Rock Trailhead, parked his car, attempted to contact a former friend and walked up the trail, court papers show.
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, federal prosecutors allege.
At 12:12 a.m. Jan. 1, 2025, environmental sensing platforms indicated the Lachman Fire had begun. Prosecutors contend that during the next five minutes, Rinderknecht called 911 several times, but didn't get through because his iPhone was out of range. When he finally connected with 911, he was at the bottom of the hiking trail and reported the fire, according to cell data. By that point, a nearby resident already had reported the fire to authorities.
Rinderknecht then allegedly fled in his car, passing fire engines driving in the opposite direction. He then turned around and followed the fire engines to the scene, driving at a high rate of speed, prosecutors said.
He walked up the same trail from earlier that night to watch the fire and the firefighters, federal prosecutors allege, and at approximately 1:02 a.m., he allegedly used his iPhone to take more videos of the scene.
During a Jan. 24 interview with law enforcement in Florida, where he relocated after the fire, Rinderknecht allegedly 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, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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