A 29-year-old man from Melbourne, Florida, is now facing additional charges related to the massive Palisades Fire, as announced by the Department of Justice after a federal grand jury indictment.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, initially accused of property destruction through fire, is now also charged with arson affecting a property involved in interstate commerce and setting timber ablaze, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Should he be found guilty, he could face up to 45 years in a federal penitentiary, officials disclosed.

“A federal grand jury has indicted a former resident of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, accused of igniting the Palisades Fire in January 2025, which ranks among the city’s most devastating wildfires,” stated the Attorney’s Office, highlighting the addition of two felonies to his legal proceedings.

Court documents revealed that authorities identified the Palisades Fire as a “holdover” event, continuing from the Lachman Fire that ignited early on New Year’s Day 2025, according to law enforcement.

WHO IS JONATHAN RINDERKNECHT, THE SUSPECT BEHIND THE DEVASTATING PALISADES FIRE?

“Law enforcement determined — using witness statements, video surveillance, cellphone data, and analysis of fire dynamics and patterns at the scene, among other things — that Rinderknecht maliciously set the Lachman Fire just after midnight on January 1 on land owned by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), an organization that received federal funding,” the Attorney’s Office said. “A week later, the same fire — then known as the Palisades Fire — burned federal property.” 

Prosecutors allege Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver on the evening of Dec. 31, 2024, and that two passengers he drove on separate trips late that night told law enforcement they remembered him appearing “agitated and angry.” 

PASSENGER SAYS UBER DRIVER ACCUSED IN PALISADES FIRE WAS ‘NUT JOB’ WHO RANTED ABOUT TRUMP 

“After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, Rinderknecht — who once lived in that neighborhood — drove towards Skull Rock Trailhead, parked his car, 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 — to which he had listened repeatedly in previous days — whose music video included things being lit on fire,” according to the Attorney’s Office. 

“At 12:12 a.m. on January 1, 2025, environmental sensing platforms indicated the Lachman Fire had begun,” it also said. “During an interview with law enforcement on January 24, 2025, Rinderknecht 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.” 

Rinderknecht was arrested on Oct. 7, 2025, and is expected to be arraigned at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.