A 35-year-old man from El Cajon was arrested after allegedly hurling bottles into a crowd at the Splash House festival in Palm Springs. The incident, which took place on August 9, resulted in minor injuries for nine attendees.
Nine injuries at the Palm Springs Air Museum
The violence erupted during the first weekend of the annual Splash House festival at the Palm Springs Air Museum, located at 745 N.. Gene Autry Trail. According to the Palm Springs Police Department, officers were dispatched to the scene around 1:40 a.m. following reports of an assault. The situation reportedly began as a dispute that escalated rapidly, leading to bottles being thrown into the gathering of festival-goers.
The aftermath left nine people injured by broken glass, though none of the victims were involved in the original altercation. As reported by the Palm Springs Police Department, two individuals received medical attention on-site, while seven others required transport to a local hospital for treatment of their minor injuries.
Milad Youssef and the assault with a deadly weapon charges
The suspect, identified as 35-year-old Milad Youssef of El Cajon in San Diego County, did not initially surrender to local authorities. He evventually turned himself in on Friday after being contacted by officers from the San Diego Police Department, who had been coordinating with the Palm Springs Police Department to track him down.
Milad Youssef has been booked on suspicion of multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon.. The use of glass bottles as projectiles elevates the legal stakes of the incident, transforming a festival dispute into a series of felony-level accusations.
The scale of Splash House and the risk of multi-venue crowds
The Splash House festival is not a centralized event but an annual gathering hosted across several different locations throughout the Palm Springs area. This year's lineup featured high-profile headliners including The Chainsmokers, Allison Wonderland, Josh Baker, Riordan, and Alleycvt, drawing large , energetic crowds to various sites across the city.
This incident highlights a recurring tension in the "destination festival" model, where alcohol consumption and high-density crowds are spread across non-traditional venues like museums. When events move away from gated, highly controlled stadium environments to dispersed urban locations, the potential for volatile interactions—and the presence of dangerous materials like glass—increases significantly.
What sparked the dispute before the bottles were thrown?
Despite the arrest of Milad Youssef, a critical piece of the puzzle remains missing: the catalyst for the initial confrontation. The police report mentions that a "dispute occurred" before the bottles were thrown, but it does not specify who the other party was or what the argument was about . It remains unclear if the altercation was a random clash or a targeted conflict.
The Palm Springs Police Department is still seeking more information to fill these gaps. Detective Javier Carrillo has been named as the point of contact for anyone with knowledge of the events leading up to the 1:40 a.m. assault, suggesting that the investigation is still actively seeking witness tetsimony to establish a full timeline of the aggression.
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