Stagecoach arrests fall 21 percent

Indio police reported 119 arrests at the 2026 Stagecoach Country Music Festival, a 21% drop from the 151 arrests recorded in 2025. (kesq.com) (desertsun.com) The three-day festival ran from Friday, April 24, through Sunday, April 26, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, one week after Coachella ended on the same grounds. (desertsun.com) (cbsnews.com) Police said 41 arrests involved false identification, seven involved drug crimes, and five involved drug, alcohol or intoxication violations. Another 66 arrests were grouped as “other.” (kesq.com) (mynewsla.com) Inside that “other” category, 58 cases were for possession of alcohol by people under 21, making underage drinking one of the biggest drivers of enforcement. (desertsun.com) (mynewsla.com) Officers also issued 48 citations for unlawful use of disabled-person placards, a separate enforcement count that did not sit inside the 119 arrests. (dailynews.com) (desertsun.com) The decline stands out because festival arrests moved the other way in 2025. Stagecoach arrests rose to 151 last year, while Coachella arrests climbed to 223 across its two 2026 weekends. (desertsun.com) (ktla.com) (cbsnews.com) Stagecoach is the country-focused sister festival to Coachella, and both events bring tens of thousands of fans to Indio each spring under heavy police and private-security planning. (cbsnews.com) (desertsun.com) This year’s Stagecoach closed with fewer arrests, but the same patterns remained familiar: false IDs, underage drinking and parking placard misuse accounted for much of the police tally. (kesq.com) (dailynews.com)