LOS ANGELES — A man distraught over a failed relationship “maliciously” started a New Year’s Day fire in the first hours of 2025 that, a week later, metastasized into one of the worst disasters in Los Angeles history, federal prosecutors said Wednesday in opening statements.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, stands accused of three federal charges of destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
He pleaded not guilty in October and could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted.Federal prosecutor Matthew O’Brien said Rinderknecht was angry about not getting a New Year’s Eve invite and spent part of the night driving passengers for Uber.
After completing a drop-off near a home he once shared with an ex-boyfriend, Rinderknecht climbed to a well-known hiking trail in the Santa Monica Mountains, O’Brien said.Rinderknecht previously told investigators that the hiking spot, known as Skull Rock, was an “emotional” place for him that held sentimental meaning, O’Brien said.
It was in that exact location that a small fire started shortly after 12 a.m.on Jan.
1, 2025.That fire, known as the Lachman Fire, was not fully extinguished and continued to smolder undetected deep in root systems before reigniting a week later and becoming the deadly Palisades Fire.The Lachman Fire burned fewer than 10 acres in open brush and did not damage or destroy any structures.
An after-action fire report indicated that firefighters failed to monitor the Lachman Fire because they thought it was extinguished, despite a red-flag warning for the region.Rinderknecht’s attorney, Steve Haney, has said his client believes he is being used as a scapegoat for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s failure to fully extinguish the Jan.
1 fire.Jonathan Rinderknecht.U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Central District of Cal...