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Melbourne Man Charged With Starting The January 2025 Palisades Fire

Thursday, October 9, 2025, 7:30 A.M. ET. 4 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

LOS ANGELES, CA.- On Tuesday, a 29-year-old Melbourne, Florida, man, formerly residing in Pacific Palisades, California, was taken into custody and jailed after being federally charged in connection with allegedly starting a fire, which eventually became the Palisades Fire of January 2025, which became one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles, California, history.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, Johnathan Rinderknecht, also known as “Jonathan Rinder” and “Jon Rinder,” 29, of Melbourne, Florida, was taken into custody and charged by federal criminal complaint with one count of Destruction of Property by Means of Fire. 

     Rinderknecht made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida and was ordered detained pending future court proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. 

According To The Charging Information Filed In The Complaint

     According to the charging information filed in the criminal complaint, law enforcement Investigators allege that the Palisades Fire was a “Holdover” fire, a continuation of the Lachman Fire that began during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2025. It is further alleged that although Firefighters quickly suppressed the Lachman Fire, unbeknownst to anyone, the fire continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of the dense vegetation.

     On January 7, 2025, with hurricane-force winds hitting the area, the fire surfaced and erupted. Fueled by the heavy winds, it quickly spread across the ground, becoming known as the Palisades Fire and causing widespread damage in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.

     During the ensuing investigation, Investigators determined, based on witness statements, video surveillance, cellular phone data, and analysis of the fire dynamics and patterns at the scene, among other things, that Rinderknecht maliciously set the Lachman Fire just shortly after midnight on January 1, 2025, on land owned by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, an organization that received federal funding. A week later, the same fire, then known as the Palisades Fire, burned federal property.

     On the evening of December 31, 2024, Rinderknecht was working as an Uber Driver. Two passengers whom he drove on separate trips between 10:15 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. that night later told Investigators they remember Rinderknecht as being agitated and angry. 

     It is also alleged that, after dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, Rinderknecht, who once lived in that neighborhood, drove towards Skull Rock Trailhead, parked his vehicle, attempted to contact a former friend, and walked up the trail. He then used his iPhone to take videos at a nearby hilltop area and listened to a rap song that he had listened to repeatedly in the previous days, whose music video included things being set on fire.

     On January 1, 2025, at approximately 12:12 a.m., an environmental sensing platform indicated the Lachman Fire had begun, and during the next five minutes. Rinderknecht called 911 multiple times, but did not get through because his iPhone was out of cellular phone range. When he finally got through to a 911 Emergency Operator, he was at the bottom of the hiking trail and reported the fire. By that point, a nearby resident had already reported the fire to authorities.

     Rinderknecht then fled the area in his vehicle, passing fire engines driving in the opposite direction. He then turned around and followed the fire engines at a high rate of speed. Rinderknecht then walked up the same trail from earlier that night to watch the fire and the firefighters. Then, just minutes after 1:00 a.m., Rinderknecht used his iPhone to record more videos of the scene.

     On January 24, 2025, during an interview with Investigators, Rinderknecht lied about where he was when he first saw the Lachman Fire. He claimed he was near the bottom of the hiking trail when he first saw the fire and called 911, but geolocation data from his iPhone revealed that he was standing in a clearing just 30 feet from the fire as it quickly grew.  

     “The complaint alleges that a single person’s recklessness caused one of the worst fires Los Angeles has ever seen, resulting in death and widespread destruction in Pacific Palisades,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “While we cannot bring back what victims lost, we hope this criminal case brings some measure of justice to those affected by this horrific tragedy.

     If convicted at trial, Rinderknecht faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison. At sentencing, upon a finding of guilt, a U.S. District Court Judge would determine the term of imprisonment based on the seriousness of the offense and Rinderknecht’s prior criminal history.

“The rules of the federal court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”

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Art Fletcher
Art Fletcher
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