Search Articles
LOS ANGELES (CN) — A former Los Angeles resident pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges he started the devastating Palisades Fire in January that turned into the worst natural disaster in city’s history.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, made his first appearance in a downtown LA courtroom after he was extradited from Florida where he was living and where he was arrested on Oct. 7.
“Not guilty,” he said when asked how he would plead.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver ordered him detained while awaiting trail. The judge said she was following the decision by a magistrate judge in Florida who had denied him bail since there was no new information added to the pretrial report.
Steven Haney, an LA lawyer retained by Rinderknecht, indicated he will ask his client be released on bail at some point soon because Rinderknecht had no documented history of mental illness or drug use and no criminal history.
“The court has to consider the weight of the evidence,” Haney said, noting that Rinderknecht was charged with starting a fire that began seven days after the fire he’s accused of initially igniting.
When Rinderknecht tried to address the judge himself regarding his detainment, his lawyer quickly shot him down and asked for a brief recess.
Rinderknecht stands charged with one count of destruction of property by means of fire, one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire. He faces as long as 45 years in prison if he’s convicted on all charges.
The Palisades Fire erupted Jan. 7 and, driven by extreme winds, quickly engulfed the affluent neighborhood overlooking the Pacific Ocean. By the time it was fully contained on Jan. 31, it had become the worst natural disaster in LA history, destroying 6,837 structures and killing 12 people.
Investigators now believe that the fire was caused by a so-called holdover fire that Rinderknecht is accused of having started on Jan. 1, near a trail in the mountains above the residential streets of the Pacific Palisades. Although firefighters quickly extinguished this fire, prosecutors claim it continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of dense vegetation.
When on Jan. 7 the area was hit by the strongest windstorm in more than a decade, the smoldering fire in the dry vegetation turned into a massive conflagration that forced tens of thousands of residents to flee their multimillion-dollar homes and abandon their cars in the narrow gridlocked roads leading out of the secluded enclave.
Federal prosecutors say Rinderknecht, who previously had lived in the Pacific Palisades himself, had been working as an Uber driver on New Year’s Eve. Two passengers who rode on separate trips with him that night told investigators later that he had appeared angry and agitated.
After dropping off a passenger in the Pacific Palisades, prosecutors say Rinderknecht drove towards the Skull Rock Trailhead, a popular hiking spot above the neighborhood. He walked up the trail shortly after midnight, used his iPhone to take videos at a nearby hilltop area and listened to a rap song, the music video of which includes things being lit on fire.
At 12:12 a.m. environmental sensing platforms indicated that a fire has started near where Rinderknecht was at that moment. Prosecutors say he called 911 several times, but didn’t get through because there was no reception on the trail. When he finally connected with 911, he had descended down the trail and reported the fire. By that point, a nearby resident already had reported the fire to authorities.
Investigators say Rinderknecht fled in his car and passed the fire engines driving in the opposite direction. He then turned around and followed the fire engines to the scene, driving at a high rate of speed. He walked up the same trail from earlier that night to watch the fire and the firefighters. At approximately 1:02 a.m., he reportedly used his iPhone to take more videos of the scene.
The Palisades firestorm happened alongside another massive blaze in the Altadena neighborhood, which was similarly destroyed. The fires are estimated to have caused more than $250 billion in economic damage, making them the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history. Cleaning up and rebuilding the devastated parts of the city is expected to take years.
Follow @edpetterssonSubscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.