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Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Arrests at Coachella, Stagecoach festivals see double-digit spikes
Arrests at the wildly popular Coachella Music Festival, as well as the country music festival Stagecoach that follows it, both saw double-digit percentage increases in arrests, according to media reports. At Coachella, which is held over two consecutive weekends, April 11-13 and 18-20 this year, 223 arrests were made, according to the Indio Police Department. Arrests at the festival, which has a capacity for 125,000 people a day, were for drug and alcohol intoxication, possession of illegal drugs, property crimes including theft, and false identification. In total, arrests were up 16.5% from the 193 arrests in 2024, the Daily Breeze reported. Citations for handicap placard violations were also up, with 162 issued this year compared to 136 the previous year, a 19% increase, according to the outlet. Terrifying, real life murder mystery unfolding in L.A. apartment complex At Stagecoach, where campers had access to the grounds starting April 24, the festival itself ran from April 25-27. Indio PD logged 151 arrests this year, a 20% increase from 2024, according to Los Angeles Daily News. While 91 of those arrests were made for unspecified violations, 54 were made for false identification, three for suspicion of drug possession and three for public intoxication. Like fans at Coachella, handicap placard violations were also up, with 86 citations issued, up 3% from last year, the outlet reported. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
30-04-2025
- Daily Mail
Disturbing sign iconic Coachella music festival has passed its peak
Once a glittering symbol of music, culture, and youthful freedom, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is showing troubling signs that its best days may be behind it. The Indio Police Department has revealed how there was a sharp uptick in arrests and citations at the 2025 edition of the once-peaceful desert gathering. It paints a grim portrait of what was once seen as the gold standard of American festivals. According to officials, 223 arrests were made over the two-weekend event this year - a jarring 16.5 percent increase from the 193 recorded during the 2024 festival. The charges, officials say, were a rogue's gallery of offenses that included drug and alcohol intoxication, false identification, possession of illegal drugs, and a spike in property crimes, mainly theft. It means what was once billed as a celebration of music and art increasingly seems to be morphing into a chaotic, lawless sprawl under the California sun. Even more unsettling is the breakdown of the figures. During the first weekend alone, April 11-13, 22 people were arrested for being drunk. But that figure was soon overtaken by the second weekend's explosion in drug possession cases. During the weekend April 18-20, there were just two intoxication arrests, but drug possession arrests skyrocketed to 53, nearly doubling the 29 recorded the previous weekend. Combined, drug possession emerged as the single most common reason for arrest across the entire event. But the most bizarre and damning development came not from drug busts or drunken brawls, but from something even more petty - rampant abuse of handicapped parking permits in order to snag a prime parking spot. In a sign of how desperate some festivalgoers have become to skirt the event's grueling logistics, handicapped placard violations jumped a stunning 19 percent, rising from 136 in 2024 to 162 this year. Police enforced strict checks at the handicapped parking areas, requiring drivers to present the ID of the individual to whom the placard was issued - and that individual had to be physically present in the vehicle. That hundreds attempted the brazen scam has somewhat tarnished the reputation of the festival that once prided itself on inclusivity and community spirit. At its peak, Coachella represented a pilgrimage for music lovers and a place where the biggest stars, from Beyoncé to Radiohead, graced the stage under the desert sky. The festival's capacity of 125,000 attendees each day still draws massive crowds. But behind dazzling Instagram photos and celebrity sightings, the crime statistics suggest there is a rot setting in at the very core of the brand.
CBS News
15-02-2025
- CBS News
1 dead, 2 severely injured after BMW crashes head-on into oncoming traffic in Indio
One person was killed and two others were severely injured during a two-car, head-on crash in Indio on Friday. Police were dispatched to Fred Waring Drive and Avenue 44 just before 6 a.m. after learning of the crash, according to a statement from the Indio Police Department. Though exact circumstances surrounding the crash remain unclear, police say that the 45-year-old man driving a BMW sedan traveling eastbound on Fred Waring Drive "for an unknown reason veered into oncoming traffic." They crashed head-on with a Nissan Sentra driving westbound. The crash killed a female passenger inside of the BMW, police said. She has not yet been identified pending notification of next of kin. The drivers of both cars were rushed to a nearby hospital with major injuries, police said. The BMW driver is in stable condition at the latest, while the Nissan driver, a 37-year-old woman, is in critical condition. Anyone who knows more is urged to contact investigators at (760) 391-4057.
