Coachella man accused of threatening to bomb Desert X misses arraignment
Update 3/14/23
The case was dismissed after the suspect completed his misdemeanor diversion program.
Original Report 7/1/21
A $5,000 bench warrant was issued today for the arrest of a Coachella man accused of threatening to bomb the 2021 Desert X art exhibition.
Phillip Matthew Carrillo, 31, was taken into custody about a week after the Palm Springs Police Department began investigating a social media post he allegedly authored targeting the contemporary art biennial in the Coachella Valley in early February.
Carrillo subsequently posted bond and was later charged with one misdemeanor count of making a false bomb threat.
He was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, but failed to show up, prompting Riverside County Superior Court Judge Emily Benjamini to issued a bench warrant.
Desert X includes various art installations placed at outside sites across 40 miles of the Sonoran Desert. It took place this year from March 12 through May 16. A motive in the alleged crime was not specified.
Police said the investigation into Carrillo's alleged threat targeting Desert X stemmed from the discovery of a pipe bomb near a popular trailhead in Palm Springs on Feb. 16.
The sheriff's Explosive Ordinance Team detonated an "active explosive device" near the entrance to Araby Trail near Southridge Drive and Rim Road. The day after, police began investigating reports of "a possible threat made on social media that indicated there would be additional bombs placed at a Desert X art exhibit event on an unspecified date or time.''
That investigation led to Carrillo's arrest.
But police stopped short of immediately connecting Carrillo to the pipe bomb found in Palm Springs, saying at the time that the two events composed separate investigations.
"The investigation into the threat and the investigation into the pipe bomb are being considered two separate investigations at this time as it is currently unknown if they are related," police said.
Police have not elaborated further in the months since.
Carrillo has no documented felony convictions in Riverside County.
