Man Arrested for Alleged Coachella Bomb Threat as Over 100,000 Fans Gather for the Festival

A 40-year-old man from Santa Monica, Davis Darvish, was arrested Saturday after allegedly threatening to carry out a bombing at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival, according to the Cathedral City Police Department.

Authorities say Darvish approached security at the Agua Caliente Casino and “made the threat,” prompting a swift police response around 11 a.m. The casino, located 17 miles from Coachella’s Empire Polo Club, alerted law enforcement as the festival kicked off its first weekend, drawing tens of thousands of attendees.

Officers quickly identified the Tesla Darvish was driving and alerted festival security. Cathedral City police said they “used FLOCK ALPR (automated license plate recognition) technology to track Darvish’s movement throughout the Coachella Valley.”

At 12:11 p.m., Palm Springs police located the vehicle, detained Darvish, and turned the case over to CCPD detectives. No weapons, explosives, or bomb-making materials were found “in his possession or his vehicle,” police confirmed.

Darvish is now being held on $1 million bail at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio. The incident occurred as Coachella opened on April 11th.