Attorney demands release of man accused of starting Palisades fire

The attorney representing the man accused of starting the Lachman fire before it turned into the deadly Palisades fire is demanding the immediate release of his client following a sworn deposition by a Los Angeles city firefighter who testified that he told co-workers and a captain that the first fire was not fully out as they packed up hoses on Jan. 2.

Steve Haney said the deposition, along with other testimony from a separate civil lawsuit filed by homeowners against the city and state, “completely contradicts the government’s false narrative that the Palisades fire was a so-called ‘holdover fire’ that somehow burned undetected 20 feet deep in a root system before re-emerging days later.”

Haney said he plans to present more evidence during a press conference outside the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, March 5.

In his deposition, LAFD firefighter Scott Pike said he noticed about five areas that were still smoking.

“I could feel the heat off of it and I didn’t even want to use my gloved hand because it was hot,” Pike said in testimony. “So I just kicked it with my boot to kind of expose it. And there was like red-hot like coals, what I believe to be the base of a bush or branches that was still smoldering. I even heard crackling.”

Pike said he felt “like I kind of got blown off a little bit” after telling his co-workers and a captain that the crew should do more mop-up before packing up the hoses.

John Ota, a State Parks employee, told an LAFD battalion chief and captain that the state was going to patrol the burn scar, but testified that he did not return to the scene of the fire after that day.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, who has been in federal prison since his October arrest in Florida, faces three federal charges in relation to the Lachman fire — destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and timber set afire.

He faces up to 45 years in federal prison if convicted. Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Haney has said authorities have used Rinderknecht as a scapegoat for the failure of city and state authorities.

But prosecutors allege Rinderknecht, who had just dropped off his last Uber customer for the night, was agitated when he walked up to the Hidden Buddha clearing in Pacific Palisades, listened to a French rap song and maliciously set the Lachman fire early on New Year’s Day in 2025.

While driving away from the area, he turned around after seeing firefighters and even offered at least once to help fight the fire, prosecutors said.

LAFD officials said they had the fire extinguished in hours and returned on Jan. 2, 2025, to pack up hoses. Federal prosecutors said the fire continued to smolder underground until fierce winds kicked it back up to the surface, starting the devastating Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 7,000 structures before it was fully contained on Jan. 31, 2025.

The Palisades fire, officials say, broke out on Jan. 7 last year.

At one point a resident of Pacific Palisades and Hollywood, Rinderknecht moved to Florida to stay with family months after the Palisades fire. More problems allegedly arose there, prosecutors said, as Rinderknecht on multiple occasions argued with family members, allegedly threatened to burn the house down and allegedly bought a gun that was found stored in a stuffed animal in the garage.

Federal authorities said he had a .380 magazine in his pocket during his October arrest.

Rinderknecht’s sister and brother-in-law offered moving expenses and $10,000 to move him out of the house, but Rinderknecht allegedly told them he’d take no less than $25,000, federal prosecutors said during the November hearing.

Two separate judges have denied requests that Rinderknecht be released on bond, citing concerns about his mental health, relationship with family members and the apparent purchase of the firearm.

Joel Rinderknecht testified on his son’s behalf at the second hearing in November in Los Angeles and said that despite prior issues at the Florida home, his family members believe he is innocent.

“His name, his reputation is being sullied beyond belief,” Haney said following that hearing.

Haney said deposition testimony in the civil case also included multiple hiker videos of a still-hot, visibly smoldering burn scar days after fire crews left.

“Jonathan Rinderknecht has spent 150 days in a federal detention center based on a blatantly false narrative in the criminal complaint,” Haney said in a statement. “This evidence calls into question not only the fundamental fairness for my client’s continued detention, but the very foundation of the charges themselves.

“This is not a case about an individual causing a fire,” Haney continued. “This is a case about government agencies failing to do their jobs, and then seeking a scapegoat when their failures resulted in tragedy.”

Previously, Haney declined to say whether his client told him he didn’t start the Lachman fire, saying he could not divulge attorney-client discussions.