SoCal man who allegedly threatened to bomb Coachella arrested in Palm Springs
Davis Darvish, 40, was at the Agua Caliente Casino in Cathedral City on Saturday when, police said, he told casino security that he would be responsible for bombing the popular Riverside County music festival.
The casino is about a 40-minute drive from the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., where the music festival, which typically draws more than 100,000 people, is being held.
Authorities immediately alerted festival police and provided details about the man and the white Tesla he was driving, according to the Cathedral City Police Department.
Officers identified Darvish using DMV information and issued a "Be on the Look-Out" alert. Police said Darvish drove from Cathedral City to Coachella Valley, where authorities used automated license plate readers to track his movement. He arrived in Palm Springs around noon, police said.
Darvish was arrested on suspicion of reporting a false bomb threat. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department bomb squad did not find any weapons or bomb-making materials inside Darvish's vehicle, police said.
He remains in custody in lieu of $1-million bail. Darvish is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, according to jail records.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the situation.
Anyone with information is being asked to contact Cathedral City Police Sgt. Rick Osborne at (760) 202-2448 or rosborne@cathedralcity.gov. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Coachella Valley Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-STOP or to the WeTip hotline at (800) 78-CRIME or www.wetip.com.
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Tesla verdict is a warning not to trust Autopilot marketing
The recent $329 million verdict against Tesla in Miami is a clear warning to anyone captivated by 'Autopilot' marketing. In 2019, when a young woman was killed and her fiancé suffered permanent injuries, data showed Tesla's system detected the stopped vehicle ahead, but didn't apply the brakes. The jury found that Tesla oversold its safety features and that drivers shouldn't have to dig through dense manuals or inspect the code to understand those limits, nor should crash victims have to battle a major corporation in court to get justice. This case isn't just about one company; it sets a precedent for every business pitching 'smart' or 'autonomous' features. Whether it's delivery drones, ride-share apps, or the next slick dashboard update, consumers must demand clear, enforceable definitions of terms like 'Autopilot' and 'Full Self-Driving.' Without standardized labels and honest disclosures, we risk turning Florida's highways into unregulated test tracks, where real people bear the cost of corporate hype. If you feel misled by a manufacturer's portrayal of what your car, or any device, can do, file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or Florida's Division of Consumer Services. Our legislators must enact laws requiring plain-English, consistent labeling for automated-driving functions so that 'Autopilot' means precisely what it promises. Technology should protect us, not gamble with our lives. Let's insist on products that live up to their marketing, or make those who oversell half-baked features pay the price. Merick Lewin, managing partner, Good Guys Law, Plantation Donald Trump became famous for, among other reasons, saying 'You're fired!' on his reality show, 'The Apprentice.' In the White House, however, that meant dismissing anyone who disagreed with him — FBI directors, scientists, generals and honest election officials. On Aug. 1, he fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer for reporting something he didn't like: that job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt. For Trump, loyalty to himself matters more than truth and leadership. This behavior is more typical of authoritarians than of true leaders. Delia DeVarona Garcia, Miami I have read all the articles lately about Miami-Dade County's budget issues. These issues have become glowing examples of county leaders' poor planning. Mayor Levine Cava spoke about the three years the county received plenty of extra money. However, it seems these funds were squandered. One example is that the new Sheriff's office has a roughly $3 million shortfall to change uniforms, badges and rebrand police vehicles. This was a voter referendum in 2018. They knew it was coming. Why weren't funds set aside for this during the 'fat' years? The Aug. 8 Miami Herald article discussed county leaders' thoughts on cutting the special needs programs that had been funded in previous years. This is total financial mismanagement. Robert J. Lynch, Davie As the owner and operator of several large businesses, I appreciate the difficulty in working with my team to establish annual budgets that make economic sense for the company, enjoyable work experiences for our employees and top tier products for our customers. That process relies on prudent business practices, transparency, communication and heart. Reading the Aug. 8 Miami Herald article, 'Charities facing cuts ask Miami-Dade mayor: Save the safety net, don't 'unravel' it,' made me appreciate just how lucky we are to have Mayor Daniella Levine Cava at the helm. Balancing prudent business practices and community responsibility is not easy. We voted her into office because we trusted her and we felt that she would always do right for the community while governing county finances with smart financial planning. We also voted for her because she is fair, honest, hardworking and most importantly, she has a high moral character, hence, we must appreciate that every decision she makes is for the right reason. Determining which agencies get cut and by how much is difficult, but that is a reality we all must understand and accept. As my late father Stanley G. Tate always said, 'Keep your nose to the grindstone and push forward.' James D. Tate, North Miami The Trump administration has ordered universities to submit information regarding applicants' race, gender and who knows what else. This appears to be just another invasion of our private lives. Private universities are just that — private. They exist by the product they supply. If that product is insufficient to meet the need for employment or acceptance into society, then they have failed and it is not up to our prevailing government to admonish or punish them. They may fall of their own accord by lack of financial or societal support. Our society has more than enough guardrails to keep our citizens on the right track as to race and gender without our all-knowing government poking into university life. Bill Silver, Coral Gables August 13 is International Left-Handers Day, founded in 1976 to celebrate the uniqueness and challenges of left-handed people worldwide. Studies show that about 10% of people are left-handed. Scientists are unsure why some people have a dominant left hand, though there may be a connection between genetics and environment. Some left-handers are found to have more left-handed relatives than average. Based on brain function, some southpaws proudly declare that 'left-handers are the only ones in their right mind.' Being a lefty, however, comes with some difficulties. Many desks and tools are geared more for right-handers than left-handers. Most handshakes are done with the right hand. Even lefty contestants on the hit game show 'Wheel of Fortune' are at a disadvantage when they spin the wheel. Some, however, believe lefties are more artistic and creative than righties, a claim backed up by recent research in the American Journal of Psychology. That study revealed that lefties are better at divergent thinking than righties. That may explain why Mozart, Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci — all left handers — were so gifted. Lefties are also found across the sports and entertainment world. Tom Emery, Carlinville, IL Millions of dollars cut from cancer research. Millions of dollars cut from vaccine research. Millions of dollars cut from other medical research. Cuts to Medicaid also. All of this is putting older and vulnerable people at risk. The Trump Republican Party is not MAGA; it is MOVAD — Make Older Vulnerable Americans Dead. Leon Botkin, Miami
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Former Cop Says He Routinely Confiscated Guns, Fentanyl and Cocaine at Tesla Factory
A lawsuit filed by Ozell Murray, a former police officer fired as head of security at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, suggests the plant has a severe sexual assault, drug and alcohol abuse, and rampant racism problem. According to the 159-page federal suit, first obtained by The Independent, the officer's team "routinely" confiscated cocaine, fentanyl, and guns onsite. His team also investigated "acts of sexual deviance" and sent employees "home for being alcohol-intoxicated and high on drugs." The startling allegations aren't the first warnings of workplace trouble at the facility. The Fremont factory has already garnered a reputation for rampant racism, with a previous lawsuit raising concerns over racist graffiti — "KKK epithets, a swastika, and the N-word all over the bathroom" — and mistreatment of workers. Black employees have also said that nooses — a symbol of racial violence from America's history of fatal lynchings — were used to taunt them at work. Tesla has already settled in court over accusations of racial discrimination at the factory. Worse yet, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a long track record of waging a war against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, while furthering white supremacist conspiracy theories. He even infamously performed two Nazi salutes at Donald Trump's post-inauguration celebration earlier this year. He has previously blamed the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year on Black firefighters and suggested that Black students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have lower IQs and shouldn't become pilots. He's also been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior, including against employees, on several occasions. In other words, the abysmal situation at the mercurial billionaire's first car factory in California — a home state he abandoned in favor of Texas years ago — is closely wrapped up in his own personal beliefs. In his lawsuit, Murray accused Tesla of putting profits over everything. "Healthy profits have always been more important to the Company than a healthy working environment," reads the suit obtained by The Independent. "For Tesla, more bodies on the manufacturing line meant more vehicles flying out the factory door — no matter how unclean the hands were that were assembling those cars." According to the complaint, supervisors also abused the company's policy on drug and alcohol use. "As it turned out, many supervisors and managers were merely using the policy as a means to retaliate against their subordinates — and, in particular, when a line employee had turned down the supervisor or manager's sexual advances," the complaint reads. "Or, when the manager or supervisor wanted to retaliate against someone because of their race or ethnicity," it goes on. "Or, when the manager or supervisor wanted to retaliate against someone because of a complaint an employee had lodged against them." According to the document, a specific manager continuously fostered the "delusion that the environment and culture at Tesla is one of tolerance and innovation, rather than racism and retaliation." Murray also accused the company of firing him "under the pretextual guise of 'poor performance.'" Beyond racial discrimination, Tesla's Fremont factory also has long been accused of fostering an unsafe work environment, including reports of crushed limbs, workers fainting from dehydration, and fires. An employee there also murdered a colleague in the parking lot several years ago. Earlier this year, Tesla was fined for violating California's workplace heat protection rules. Workers are known to have borne the brunt of Musk's "ultra hardcore" work culture, including 12-hour shifts, often putting them at risk of injury. In 2020, a Tesla factory worker described working conditions to SF Weekly as a "life and death situation." A separate worker called the plant a "modern-day sweatshop." Murray, alongside his co-defendants, is seeking compensatory, emotional distress, punitive, and exemplary damages, accusing Tesla of retaliation, wrongful termination, and failure to prevent unlawful discrimination. It's ironic in the face of the allegations, but Musk has spent the last week raging about crime rates — even though violent crime just hit its lowest level in the United States since the 1960s. More on the Fremont plant: Elon Musk Is Shutting Down the Part of the Government That Helped Him Save Tesla Solve the daily Crossword
Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
FBI Warning—Do Not Reply To These Texts On Your Smartphone
American smartphones are under attack from malicious text messages. This industrial scale campaign is driven by organized criminal gangs in China, well beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. If you do succumb to an unpaid toll, DMV or Amazon refund text, your phone, your data and even your identity could be at risk. But there's a different wave of text attacks now targeting phones, and it's harder to detect. These messages do not pretend to come from a DMV or bank or retailer, but from someone you know. There's no link to click. The attacker just wants you to reply. The FBI's warning is clear. 'Verify the identity of the person calling you or sending text or voice messages" before you reply.' If the text shows up on your phone with the usual contact details you'd expect, then it's fine. The issue is where the sender is unknown. If that's the case, the FBI says, 'before responding, research the originating number, organization, and/or person purporting to contact you. Then independently identify a phone number for the person and call to verify their authenticity.' The team at MalwareBytes has just published a useful report on these 'innocent' texts that are anything but. 'All the messages are carefully crafted to seem plausible—so you don't immediately feel suspicious — and short — to trigger your curiosity.' The text may a single word, a 'hey' or a 'hello.' Or it might be a message that appears to either be a wrong number or a lost contact or a continuation of a thread you've started elsewhere. It doesn't matter what lure is used. Once you reply, even if it's just to inform the sender they have the wrong number then you fall into the trap. The lure could be more specific, 'a doctor's appointment, a social event, a funeral, a hospital visit, a message after a long absence,' but the objective is the same. The end result could be financial scam such as a crypto investment, or a romance scam where the by-chance encounter with a wrong number seems to lead to more, or that could escalate into a sextortion scam, if the exchange includes sharing images. As the FBI explains, 'the scammers behind the fake wrong-number text messages are counting on you to continue the conversation. They want to exploit your friendliness. Once they've made a connection, they'll work to become friends or even cultivate a remote romantic relationship.' And while 'they're posing as regular people who entered the wrong numbers on their phones,' in reality these 'fake wrong-number text scams use extremely sophisticated technology to commit their crimes.' The FTC reports that 'losses to text scams hit $470 million' last year, including 'wrong number scams that start as a seemingly misdirected message," but which 'evolve into a conversation with romantic undertones that can lead to investment and other scams.' McAfee warns 'these messages may seem harmless, but they're often the first step in long-game scams designed to steal personal data—or even life savings.' And they're surging, with '1 in 4 Americans having received one.' At any point you 'believe you are a victim of a scam,' the FBI tells phone users, 'end all communication with the perpetrator' immediately and contact law enforcement.
