Pacific Palisades fire connected to former Uber driver

“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 United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “While we cannot bring back lost victims, we hope this criminal case brings some measure of justice to those affected by this horrific tragedy.”

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, law enforcement determined that the Palisades Fire was a “holdover” fire – a continuation of the Lachman Fire that began early in the morning on New Year’s Day 2025. Although firefighters quickly suppressed the Lachman Fire, unbeknownst to anyone the fire continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of dense vegetation.

Timeline of events as listed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

• On the evening of Dec. 31, 2024, Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver. Two passengers that he drove on separate trips between 10:15 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. that night later told law enforcement they remembered that Rinderknecht appeared agitated and angry.
• 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.
• At 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025, environmental sensing platforms indicated the Lachman Fire had begun. During the next five minutes, Rinderknecht called 911 several times, but didn’t get through because his iPhone was out of cellphone range. When he finally connected with 911, he was at the bottom of the hiking trail and reported the fire. By that point, a nearby resident already had reported the fire to authorities.
• Rinderknecht then fled in his car, passing 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. Rinderknecht walked up the same trail from earlier that night to watch the fire and the firefighters. At approximately 1:02 a.m., he used his iPhone to take more videos of the scene.
• 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 Jan. 1
• On Jan. 7, heavy winds caused the underground fire to surface and spread above ground in what became known as the Palisades Fire, which caused widespread damage in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
• 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.

See also:

• Feds file suit against California utility for LA fire suppression costs
• LA's urban utility sued over water shortage for Palisades Fire
• Wildfire threats make utilities uninsurable in the western U.S.