Investigators say Rinderknecht, an Uber driver, started the fire on a hiking trail in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 1.
Initially, the fire area was relatively small. Firefighters quickly put it out, but the fire continued to smolder and burn underground in the root system of dense vegetation.
On January 7, strong winds caused the fire to spread to the surface, creating what became known as the Palisades Fire, which caused significant damage in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli told X that among the evidence seized from Rinderknecht's digital devices was an image of a burning city that he generated on ChatGPT.
Today we are announcing the arrest of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht on a criminal complaint charging him with maliciously starting what became the Palisades Fire in January.
⁰The complaint alleges that Rinderknecht's started a fire in Pacific Palisades on New Year's Day –… pic.twitter.com/UzrFa0Lmrz
— Acting US Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 8, 2025
If proven guilty, Rinderknecht faces a sentence of five to 20 years in prison, the US Department of Justice indicated.
