LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Before he was known as the man accused of starting the devastating Palisades Fire, Jonathan Rinderknecht had already run into problems with the law — but in another state.
This new view of Jonathan Rinderknecht comes from bodycam video from the Palm Bay, Florida Police Department, which was obtained by 7 On Your Side Investigates.
The bodycam footage shows that on the night of August 2, in Palm Bay, Police Officer James Ris tells Jonathan Rinderknecht he was clocked well over the speed limit and was driving 71 mph in a 45 mph zone.
Officer Ris then spots something he thinks is suspicious.
“There’s a lot of prescription bottles with no labels on them,” Officer Ris is heard saying.
Rinderknecht responds that all the pills are from his prescriptions.
“There is nothing illegal,” Rinderknecht told Officer Ris. “I have my portal online here for UCLA, it will show you things I’m prescribed. This I promise you.”
Officer Ris heads back to his car, generates a speeding citation, and when he heads back to hand it to Rinderknecht, Rinderknecht starts ranting about his delivery gigs.
“My whole job — these people are like pressuring you — this is already going to give me like a contract violation with these people because now it is making my stuff late,” said Rinderknecht.
Moments later, Officer Ris asks Rinderknecht to step out of the car.
“Why don’t you step out because I am going to check those pills anyway because the way you are acting, I am starting to be concerned about you being on something possibly,” said Officer Ris.
Officer Ris soon determined they were, in fact, prescription medication and sent Rinderknecht off with just the speeding ticket.
Roughly one month later, Rinderknecht is stopped again, this time by Palm Bay Officer Greg Moore.
In that bodycam video, you can hear Officer Moore tell Rinderknecht that he was speeding by driving 57 mph in a 40 mph zone.
Officer Moore gives Rinderknecht a break and lowers the citation fine to just over $130.
Palm Bay PD’s social media producer just happened to be with Officer Moore that day and captured Rinderknecht offering Officer Moore a gift of hand cream after the lowered citation.
“It is just a hand lotion,” Rinderknecht is heard saying in the video.
Officer Moore declined the gift.
“It just goes to show you, you never know who you are going to stop,” Officer Moore told 7 On Your Side.
“At the time when I stopped him, there was no indication — he gave me no indicators that he was the guy that started this fire,” Moore said.
On Thursday, Rinderknecht pled not guilty to all charges he now faces, which include arson. But if he is found guilty, he could face up to 45 years behind bars.
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