A man was arrested Tuesday as a suspect in setting the deadly Pacific Palisades fire in Los Angeles that claimed 12 lives and destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.
Justice department officials announced at a news conference that Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, a.k.a. “Jonathan Rinder,” and “Jon Rinder,” of Melbourne, Florida, 29, had been detained.
He is charged with destruction of property by means of fire.
The BBC reports authorities said evidence collected from the suspect’s digital devices showed an image he generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city.
The fire was sparked on 7 January near a popular hiking trail overlooking the wealthy coastal neighbourhood.
The Eaton Fire, ignited the same day in the Los Angeles area, killed another 19 people and destroyed about 9,400 structures, officials said. The cause of that fire remains unclear, the BBC report notes.
Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida and has been charged with destruction of property by means of fire, Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told the press conference in Los Angeles.
The blaze became the most destructive inferno in Los Angeles history.
“While we cannot undo the damage and destruction that was done, we hope his arrest and the charges against him bring some measure of justice to the victims of this horrific tragedy,” Essayli said.
“The arrest, we hope, will offer a measure of justice to all those impacted,” he added.
Rinderknecht will appear in court in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday.
If convicted, Rinderknecht would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Full details of the charge can be found here
More to Come…
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