The man accused of igniting the deadly Palisades fire was back in California on Thursday, making his first appearance in a federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is charged with destruction of property by means of fire; one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce; and one count of timber set afire, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was ordered to remain in custody.
Appearing before Magistrate Judge Rozella A. Oliver in a beige prison jumpsuit, Rinderknecht appeared agitated and held his hands behind his back.
At one point, he interrupted the proceeding, saying, “Can I mention something about detainment?” before his attorney, Steve Haney, cut him off.
Haney asked for a break and they stepped out of the courtroom for about five minutes.
“Obviously he’s frustrated,” Haney later told reporters about his client’s outburst in court. “He’s a frustrated young man who is in custody.”
Haney said the federal government was using his client as a “scapegoat.”
Rinderknecht lived in Los Angeles when he allegedly set a fire — known as the Lachman fire — on New Year’s Day in Temescal Canyon, according to federal prosecutors. Investigators say he was in the area working as an Uber driver and dropping off passengers near an area where he formerly lived.
Authorities allege he maliciously started the Lachman fire near Skull Rock just after midnight. Prosecutors cited witness statements, video surveillance, Rinderknecht’s cellphone data and an analysis of where the fire ignited.
Investigators also found an AI-generated image of a burning city on Rinderknecht’s iPhone, according to Bill Essayli, acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
Environmental sensors first detected the Lachman fire at 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1. Phone records show Rinderknecht repeatedly called and failed to connect to 911 within five minutes of the first signs of the fire, prosecutors said. Around that time, a resident called in the fire to authorities.
Prosecutors say that Rinderknecht then approached firefighters to try to help them put out the blaze. He later told investigators that he saw the fire from the bottom of a trail, but data from his iPhone showed that he was standing about 30 feet away from the fire as it spread, according to court records.
Crews initially thought they had contained the Lachman fire, but federal prosecutors say it flared up again days later — growing into the Palisades fire.
That fire eventually burned 23,400 acres and destroyed more than 6,800 structures. Twelve people died as the flames ripped through Pacific Palisades.
Haney asserted that his client did not start the Lachman fire.
“There has to be a connection between the two,” he said.
Rinderknecht, the son of Baptist missionaries, spent a large portion of his childhood traveling across the United States with his family. His parents live in France, and prosecutors claim Rinderknecht is a flight risk due to his family living overseas.
He previously lived in Pacific Palisades but lived in Hollywood when the Lachman fire ignited, according to prosecutors.
Federal agents arrested Rinderknecht on Oct. 7 at a home outside Orlando, Fla., where he was staying with family. He has remained in custody since then.
A jury trial is set for Dec. 16, and Haney said he expected his client would make another attempt to be released on bond.
