Coachella festival sees slight crime spike from week to week, but year-to-year drop
Arrests and citations during the final weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio edged up from the first weekend, though overall, festivalgoers were better behaved than last year, according to police statistics released today.
Police arrested or cited 128 people at the Empire Polo Grounds between last Friday and Sunday, compared to 106 the previous weekend, bringing the two-weekend total to 234.
In 2017, police arrested or cited 277 festivalgoers, including several people taken into custody for a rash of cell phone thefts, with one man caught with more than 100 stolen phones in his possession.
Police this yea mostly dealt with drug or alcohol intoxication, which comprised 84 arrests or citations, while 35 attendees were cited for carrying a false ID and two were busted for possession of drugs for sale. The other seven citations were for undisclosed violations.
Police also handed out 206 traffic citations during the second festival weekend: 108 for “various motor vehicle driving violations” and 98 for unlawfully using a disabled person’s parking placard.
Indio police said that no arrests were made in connection with a last-minute delay in the opening of on-site camping spots due to severe winds, which sent thousands of visitors scrambling to find places to stay Thursday at various temporary locations throughout the Coachella Valley.
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