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Son of missionaries accused of setting destructive Palisades fire

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They recall him as the shy and quiet son of missionaries, who could sometimes grow “bratty” or excited when challenged.

In the Hollywood neighborhood where he lived and worked as an Uber driver, one acquaintance described him as “a really nice guy.” Yet he was embroiled in an ugly legal conflict with a neighbor in his apartment complex that included accusations of abuse and drug use.

Now, federal prosecutors accuse Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, of intentionally sparking one of the most destructive fires in California history.

In a court filing, authorities accuse Rinderknecht of setting a fire just after midnight on Jan. 1 along a popular hiking trail in Pacific Palisades. They allege he repeatedly listened to a brooding French rap song and downloaded an AI-generated image depicting a burning city.

Rinderknecht could not be reached for comment, and authorities did not offer a motive for the alleged actions.

According to public records and posts on social media, the 29-year-old has roots in Florida, Hollywood, Pacific Palisades and the south of France, where his parents did missionary work.

As recently as this spring, records show, Rinderknecht lived and was registered to vote at a Hollywood apartment building, just north of Hollywood Boulevard, near the Roosevelt Hotel.

A few months ago, federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives visited the complex and appeared to search his unit. The agents carried guns, a neighbor said, adding, “They were going in and out” of the unit.

The neighbor, who declined to give her name, told a Times reporter Wednesday that she recognized Rinderknecht but had few dealings with him.

“He kept to himself,” she said.

Peter Chang, 39, has lived in the same Sycamore Avenue apartment building in Hollywood for about four years and instantly recognized Rinderknecht when a Times reporter showed him a photo released by federal prosecutors.

Chang recalled Rinderknecht as quiet and shy, and said he lived there for about two years. He was shocked by news of his arrest.

“He was actually a really nice guy,” said Chang, who added that he only spoke to Rinderknecht in the hallway or when the two men rode the elevator in the three-story complex, which has several dozen studio and one-bedroom units.

Chang described his former neighbor as soft-spoken and introverted, and said he remembered Rinderknecht because he had a distinct numerical entry door lock, whereas nearly every other unit had a keyed lock system.

A former roommate of Rinderknecht’s who lived with him and another roommate for about two years on Vía La Costa in the Palisades said he didn’t believe Rinderknecht was the kind of person who would commit arson.

“I can only tell you the Jonathan I know would never do anything like that,” said the former roommate, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of negative business consequences.

Yet the roommate, who stopped living with Rinderknecht in 2022, said he would sometimes “just start talking fast and get bratty with people who confronted him. But he wouldn’t get violent; he would maybe just smoke some pot and go to sleep.”

The Skull Rock trailhead — which was cited in the government’s criminal complaint — was located just steps from their home, the old roommate said, and the pair would often hike the route.

The roommate said detectives told him Rinderknecht was not cooperating with their investigation but that didn’t mean he was guilty of starting the fire.

“I also can believe he pissed these investigators off by not cooperating,” the former roommate said. “He was just being a bratty kid about this, and this is something you can’t ignore so they had to bring him in.”

In the fall of 2018 — before he lived in Hollywood — Rinderknecht and a girlfriend used Airbnb to rent a room in a San Fernando Valley home, according to the landlord, who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity for fear of harassment.

The landlord said Rinderknecht appeared “very intelligent” and told her that he had family in France and that he considered himself a Frenchman. She believed he worked part-time as a restaurant waiter.

As the weeks wore on, however, the landlord grew concerned. She overheard Rinderknecht speaking to his girlfriend, and said he was disrespectful, even cruel. She suspected that he was using illicit substances and that he was damaging her home’s walls and window blinds.

The landlord said that sometimes, she would overhear the girlfriend crying, or saying that her family wanted her to leave Rinderknecht and fly back home.

“He disregarded all the rules. If I said don’t do this, he’d be very upset and talk back to me,” the landlord recalled. “I called Airbnb to kick him out.”

At one point she threatened to call police, and then he and his girlfriend soon left. The landlord said it cost her about $2,000 to repair damage to the apartment.

While he was living in Hollywood, Rinderknecht was involved in a pair of civil lawsuits, which were unconnected to each other or to the fire investigation.

Court records show Rinderknecht was involved in a lawsuit after a car crash that occurred while he drove for DoorDash, the plaintiff confirmed to The Times.

In March, Rinderknecht sued a neighbor, but the case was dismissed after Rinderknecht failed to show up in court.

Rinderknecht lived in a small apartment on the third floor of the complex. His unit is now rented by another man, who declined to provide his name, but who said some mail occasionally shows up for Rinderknecht.

The apartment building sits between Franklin Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, near the foot of Runyon Canyon and Outpost Estates. The neighborhood is located far from the Palisades fire but was subject to mandatory evacuations during the Sunset fire, which broke out the day after the Palisades fire began.

On Wednesday morning, a parade of news photographers and videographers visited the apartment building, shooting images of its courtyard pool and entryway.

Two residents from the neighborhood said they remembered seeing Rinderknecht, but said they could recall nothing remarkable or memorable. They were shocked that the man was now accused of causing such a catastrophic event.

The manager of Rinderknecht’s old Hollywood apartment complex, who identified himself only as Joey, said he had been called Wednesday morning by TMZ and ABC News.

“I’m not allowed to give any statement,” he said, adding, “That’s our company policy.”

After the Palisades fire, Rinderknecht moved from California to Florida, according to federal prosecutors.

Rinderknecht’s mother, Jennifer, is originally from Florida, according to Pastor Shawn Hurley with Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Lima, Ohio. His father, Joel, is a French citizen, and the couple live in France.

Hurley met the family during their travels across the country as missionaries, he said. They would visit every four years as one of their many stops. He said he first met the parents in 1995, before Rinderknecht was born, but watched him grow up to a teenager, which was about the last time he saw him.

He described Rinderknecht as an “average teenager” whose favorite soccer team was Olympique de Marseille.

It was not immediately clear when Rinderknecht moved to Southern California, but prosecutors said he at one point lived in the Palisades and was familiar with the area where the fire started.

The U.S. attorney’s office charged Rinderknecht on Oct. 2 in the Central District Court in California, and he was arrested on Wednesday in Florida. Prosecutors are in the process of arranging which witnesses will appear at Rinderknecht’s Oct. 17 preliminary hearing, according to court records.

On Wednesday morning, Rinderknecht briefly appeared in an Orlando federal courtroom where he was appointed a federal public defender. He was ordered to appear again for a preliminary hearing on Thursday morning and remains in custody, according to court records.

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