Man Made Coachella Bomb Threat at Area Casino

• Davis Darvish of Santa Monica, Calif. was arrested for threatening to bomb the Coachella Festival this past weekend
• The threats were made at the Agua Caliente Casino near the music festival
• Casino guards alerted police, who located their suspect via license plate cameras

The man arrested for threatening to bomb the Coachella Music & Arts Festival on Saturday was apprehended thanks to assistance from security guards at the Agua Caliente Casino in Cathedral City, Calif. The guards told police they were approached by a man driving a Tesla who said he’d “be responsible for a bombing” at the festival, which is held about 17 miles away at the Empire Polo Club.

Using DMV information, Cathedral City police identified the vehicle’s owner as Davis Darvish, a 40-year-old resident of Santa Monica, then began searching for his car.

Investigators used Flock ALPR automated number plate recognition cameras to track the vehicle’s movements through the Coachella Valley, locating it in Palm Springs within an hour.

Darvish was arrested at 12:11 p.m. Saturday by Palm Springs police, who turned the investigation back over to Cathedral City police. A search of Darvish’s vehicle revealed no weapons, explosives or bomb-making materials.

Darvish was charged with making bomb threats and is being held at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio, Calif. on $1 million bail.

Coachella, held for six days over two consecutive weekends every April, typically draws 125K attendees every day.

The Agua Caliente Casino in Cathedral City is the newest of three gaming properties owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Opened in November 2020, it joined locations owned by the Tribe in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage. The 13-acre property boasts a 38K square-foot gaming floor.

This is a developing story.