In the United States, a man has been arrested on suspicion of starting a large fire that devastated part of Los Angeles earlier this year. Police found AI-generated images of a burning city in the suspect’s possession.
The 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested in the state of Florida, the US Department of Justice announced on Wednesday. He is suspected of deliberately starting a fire near Pacific Palisades, a wealthy neighborhood in Los Angeles. In January, the fire destroyed some six thousand buildings and claimed the lives of twelve people.
According to the US Public Prosecution Service (OM), Rinderknecht started the fire after finishing his shift as an Uber driver. Videos he made with his mobile phone and emergency calls from local residents are said to be proof of this. Rinderknecht lived in Los Angeles at the time of the fire.
During the investigation, authorities also found images of a burning city that he had generated via ChatGPT. Rinderknecht will first be brought before a court in Florida and then transferred to California.
At this time, the man is only accused of destruction of property by arson. The Public Prosecution Service does not rule out that charges of murder will be added later. In that case, the federal government could demand the death penalty.
On the same day, the Eaton fire also broke out in Los Angeles, killing nineteen people. The cause of that fire is still unknown.