An arrest has been made in relation to the deadly Palisades Fire in the Los Angeles area in January.
The suspect, 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, was arrested at his home in Florida on Tuesday, officials said during a press conference.
Officials accuse Rinderknecht, also known as Jonathan Rinder, of starting the Lachman Fire just after midnight on New Year’s Day that “maliciously damaged and destroyed, by means of fire, specifically, the fire known as the Lachman Fire and Palisades Fire,” a criminal complaint obtained by Fox News said.
While the Lachman Fire was quickly suppressed, officials said it continued burning underground until winds ignited what became the Palisades Fire.
The Palisades Fires left over 20,000 acres of charred rubble and claimed the lives of 12 people.
“Today we are announcing the arrest of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht on a criminal complaint charging him with maliciously starting what became the Palisades Fire in January,” Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X Wednesday.
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Considering the fact that 12 people died in this fire, this should be nothing less than a death penalty case ! Hopefully, he can be prosecuted by the federal government instead of California, where he would just be imprisoned if found guilty. He deserves to be executed !
What about the Eaton fire??
Dear Miss Butler: The cause of that fire can be a number of things. For the moment, it appears to have been arson, however, that does not exclude or excuse, that the hot dry weather had left uncleaned up dry dead busses and other ground cover that burst into flames and spread fast like “wildfire” so the term goes. The brush all along that area should have been cleaned up and everybody knows it! And further, it is mind boggling that all of the fire hydrants were DRY, AKA, no water. Don’t let that fact slip away from this arson investigation and charge! Governor Newsome needs to be held accountable for such a horrid, terrible, thing, as to have an entire community living without an adequate water source during any type of weather or fire occurrence. When even just one house is on fire, or the school, or a church, they should be able to call the fire department who should be able to respond fast and hook into a fire hydrant to get water to put out the fire. Both the Governor and the Mayor of California should be held accountable for NO WATER available in the Palasaids. Cover that and don’t let their failure to provide water for that entire community slip out of the news coverage! Part of that disaster belongs to Mayor Basset and Governor Newsome! Hold them accountable in the news! They both should be sitting in a court room right now trying to explain their failure to protect homeowners with water in the fire hydrants! Thank you, Nancy Granata