Federal prosecutors say the man accused of igniting the fire that devastated Pacific Palisades in January left behind a trail of digital and behavioral clues — from an AI-generated image of a burning city to repeatedly listening to a French rap song to his temperament as an Uber driver in the hours before the initial blaze began.
Envisioning the destruction with ChatGPT
Months before the fire, investigators allege 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht used ChatGPT to generate an image described by prosecutors as “a dystopian painting showing a burning forest and a crowd fleeing from it.”
Officials released this information at a Wednesday news conference announcing Rinderknecht’s arrest, calling it part of the digital evidence that helped tie the Florida resident — who once lived in the Palisades — to the Lachman Fire, the smaller blaze that smoldered underground for a week before erupting on Jan. 7 into the Palisades Fire.
“You could see some of his thought process in the months leading up, where he was generating some really concerning images on ChatGPT, which appear to show a dystopian city being burned down,” said Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli on Wednesday.
Authorities did not say if the image was shared publicly, or reveal the ChatGPT prompts that created it. Essayli said more evidence will be presented at trial.
A New Year’s ride-share route that ended at the ignition point
According to the criminal complaint, Rinderknecht had been working an Uber shift on New Year’s Eve and dropped off a passenger in a residential area of Pacific Palisades just before midnight.
Two of Rinderknecht’s other passengers told investigators he appeared “agitated and angry” that night, investigators allege. In a statement to KTLA, an Uber representative confirmed Rinderknecht was a driver but that he was not on the Uber app at the time of the Lachman Fire.
“We still worked closely with the ATF to help determine the driver’s whereabouts on and around Jan. 1 and provided the ATF with crucial GPS data and other relevant information,” stated Uber. “As soon as we learned of the driver’s suspected involvement, we removed their access to the Uber platform and continued to work with the ATF on this nine-month investigation.”
After Rinderknecht’s last Uber ride, officials said he parked near the Skull Rock Trailhead — not far from the Lachman Trail — and attempted, but failed, to contact a former friend before hiking up the hill.
“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,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.
A song about “despair and bitterness”
The DOJ’s official criminal complaint states that at 11:28 p.m., Rinderknecht used his iPhone to access YouTube to listen to the song entitled “Un Zder, Un Thé,” by the French artist Josman.
“I have reviewed an English translation of the French lyrics for the song, and a theme of the song is despair and bitterness,” the complaint states. The document adds that during his interview on Jan. 24, Rinderknecht admitted to being fluent in French and having grown up in France.
Investigators used Google records to find that, in the previous four days, Rinderknecht allegedly listened to the same song nine times and watched the music video at least three times. In the music video, the artist, Josman, is seen igniting small fires, corresponding with lyrics about being in pain, smoking marijuana, not sleeping and feeling bitter about the world.
In one case, Josman is seen beside a bin on fire while rapping the following lyrics that have been translated into English via Musixmatch:
Yeah, imagine how much I’ve got in my head, yeahI’m taking off, I’m moving upEverything we burn is counted in grams, yeah.
In another example, scenes where Josman and others light up joints, money and trash play over the following lyrics:
I’m so sorry to my parentsI’ve got too much bitterness in my head, I’m thinking about the mistakes we’ve madeBut I won’t make them twice, no choice, no right
The complaint alleges that Rinderknecht listened to the song again at 11:54 p.m., minutes before the flames erupted.
From smoldering embers to a catastrophe
At 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1, sensors detected a small fire burning in that same area. Prosecutors allege Rinderknecht tried several times to call 911 but couldn’t connect due to poor reception. When he finally reached dispatchers, he claimed he was reporting the blaze from the bottom of the trail — but geolocation data later placed him about 30 feet above the fire’s origin point, according to prosecutors.
After hanging up, officials said, he drove away from the area, passing fire engines headed toward the scene. Moments later, he turned around, followed them back and filmed firefighters battling the flames.
Fire crews initially suppressed the Lachman Fire, but the flames burned deep within the root systems of dry vegetation — a “holdover fire” that reignited on Jan. 7 amid powerful Santa Ana winds.
That underground flare-up grew into the Palisades Fire, which federal investigators described as one of the costliest and most destructive urban wildfires in U.S. history, killing 12 people and destroying 6,837 structures across the Palisades and Malibu.
The digital trail that followed
When investigators interviewed Rinderknecht on Jan. 24, they say he lied about his location that night, claiming he was far from the ignition site. Digital data told another story — one that prosecutors say linked his cell records, ride-share routes, and iPhone footage directly to the point of origin.
He later moved to Melbourne, Florida, where he was arrested this week on a federal charge of destruction of property by means of fire.
He faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
“This arrest cannot erase the pain or grief,” ATF Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper said Wednesday. “But it is proof that justice will not be forgotten, and accountability will be pursued, no matter how complex the investigation.”
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