Soylent CEO criminally charged for unpermitted tiny off-grid home

Rob Rhinehart, developer of the meal replacement milkshake known as Soylent, has been criminally charged over his off-grid "experiment in sustainable living". He installed an off-grid shipping container home, without obtaining city permits, and he allegedly refused city orders in January and April to remove the container. He could face up to two years in prison and a $4,000 fine.

Rhinehart plopped down the container with no fence on a vacant lot of 8,422 square feet in Montecito Heights - an evolving hilltop community with gorgeous views of the downtown Los Angeles skyline, which property records show he bought in January for $21,300. And he was almost never there. Over time, it became a vandalized graffiti eyesore with broken windows and a magnet for unwelcome visitors who for years have flocked to the hill looking for a place to drink, make out or watch Dodger Stadium fireworks.