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Man arrested over deadly Pacific Palisades fire in California
A man has been arrested in connection with a deadly wildfire that destroyed much of the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood in Los Angeles, California.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was detained for allegedly starting a fire on New Year's Day that burned down much of the wealthy coastal area a week later, acting US attorney Bill Essayli said. The blaze, which erupted on 7 January amid high winds, killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes and buildings in the Pacific Palisades.
It burned down mansions with views of the ocean and central Los Angeles. Rinderknecht allegedly started the fire after finishing his shift as an Uber driver on 31 December 2024.
He fled the scene of the original fire, but returned to the same trail where he had been earlier to watch it burn, according to Mr Essayli. "He left as soon as he saw the fire trucks were headed to the location.
He turned around and went back up there. And he took some video and, and watched them fight the fire," Mr Essayli said Rinderknecht made several 911 calls to report the fire, according to a criminal complaint.
During an interview with investigators on 24 January, Rinderknecht spoke of where the fire began - information that was not yet public and he would not have known if he hadn't witnessed it, the complaint said. The suspect was visibly nervous during the interview, according to the complaint.
His efforts to call 911 and a question to ChatGPT about a cigarette lighting a fire indicated he "wanted to preserve evidence of himself trying to assist in the suppression of the fire and he wanted to create evidence regarding a more innocent explanation for the cause of the fire.
Amir Nisi
Creative and experienced content writer with 6+ years of experience lazy to create unique content strategy for News5 to turn website visitors into customers.
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