Overview

• Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was taken into custody in Florida on October 7 and will be transferred to the Central District of California to face prosecution.
• Prosecutors allege he set a smaller January 1 fire near a Pacific Palisades trail that smoldered underground and preceded the January 7 blaze that, according to the DOJ, killed 12 people and burned more than 9,300 hectares.
• Charging documents reference multiple evidence streams, including witness statements, surveillance footage, cellphone geolocation records and forensic burn-pattern analysis, as well as AI-generated images of a burning city.
• Investigators say he called 911 after the initial ignition, left the area, then followed fire crews to watch and record them, and later gave a false statement that was contradicted by cameras and location data.
• The DOJ notes a potential sentence of five to twenty years if convicted, while investigators say the finding of intentional ignition could allow prosecutors to seek far harsher penalties under federal law.