A federal judge declared a mistrial Friday after a jury deadlocked on whether a California man intentionally sparked the 2025 fire that devastated the Pacific Palisades.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old former Uber driver, faced three federal charges related to sparking the fire that killed a dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Los Angeles neighborhood in January 2025. He pleaded not guilty.
Judge Anne Hwang set a new trial date for October and ordered Rinderknecht to remain jailed.
Bilal Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said federal authorities plan to retry the case in front of a new jury.
Lawyers for Rinderknecht didn't respond to a request for comment.
Federal authorities accused Rinderknecht of intentionally setting a fire just after midnight on Jan. 1, 2025, near a viewpoint along the Temescal Ridge trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. Though firefighters said they had contained the blaze dubbed the Lachman fire hours later, the fire smoldered underground in dense vegetation for days until powerful winds on Jan. 7, 2025, caused it to rapidly spread into what became known as the Palisades fire, authorities said.
In a court filing, Rinderknecht said he didn't intentionally spark the blazes in early January and visited the outlook on New Year's Eve to watch the fireworks. Lawyers representing Rinderknecht also questioned federal authorities' assertion that the Lachman fire and Palisades fire were two linked events.
The federal charges of one count of destruction of property by means of fire, one count of arson affecting property use in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire are punishable by up to 45 years in prison.
Rinderknecht used to live in the Pacific Palisades and was driving for Uber on the night of Dec. 31, 2024, according to authorities. Investigators said two of his passengers that night said he "appeared agitated and angry." After dropping off a passenger in the Los Angeles neighborhood, he parked at a nearby trailhead, walked up the trail and listened to a French song that had a music video that showed items being lit on fire. The complaint said that in 2024, Rinderknecht asked ChatGPT to produce a dystopian image of people running away from a fire.
Investigators ruled out potential ignition sources, including the possibility the Palisades fire started from fireworks, cigarettes or downed power lines, according to the Los Angeles field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Palisades fire was one of several wildfires that sparked across the region in early January as strong and erratic winds fueled unprecedented blazes. The Palisades fire and Eaton fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Altadena suburb of Los Angeles, are among the most destructive and deadly wildfires in state history.
A Los Angeles City Fire Department assessment found several issues in the initial response to the Palisades fire that didn't meet the intensity of the operation, including delayed evacuation orders and warnings that caused chaotic evacuations, as well as staffing and equipment shortages and local water infrastructure. Local leaders faced criticism for their response to the fire.
Write to Jennifer Calfas at jennifer.calfas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 26, 2026 20:33 ET (00:33 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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