A 35-year-old San Diego County man turned himself in to police Friday, days after glass bottles were hurled into a crowd at Splash House's after-hours venue in Palm Springs, leaving nine bystanders with cuts from broken glass. Milan Youssef, an El Cajon resident, is suspected of several counts of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.
The assault happened shortly before 1:40 a.m. on August 9 at the Palm Springs Air Museum, located at 745 N. Gene Autry Trail, where Splash House's late-night after-parties are held, according to MyNewsLA.com. The venue was hosting an “After Hours” set headlined by electronic music duo The Chainsmokers alongside DJ Ship Wrek when a dispute escalated and bottles were thrown into the crowd, as reported by KESQ.
Local reporting from NBC Palm Springs indicated the bottles originated from the venue's VIP section before landing among the general crowd below. Nine people sustained what police categorized as minor injuries from the broken glass, and all nine were apparently uninvolved in the original dispute. Seven of the injured were taken to a local hospital by ambulance for treatment of glass cuts, while two others were treated at the scene by paramedics, per the same account from KESQ.
Investigators Track Down a Suspect in San Diego County
Palm Springs police identified Youssef as a suspect and worked with the San Diego Police Department's Violent Crime Task Force to make contact with him. Rather than being taken into custody by force, Youssef agreed to surrender himself and turned himself in Friday. He was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department facility that serves as the primary short-term jail for arrests across the Coachella Valley. Bail information was not immediately available, according to MyNewsLA.com.
Detective Javier Carrillo of the Palm Springs Police Department has publicly asked witnesses to come forward with cell phone video and any additional information that could aid the investigation, according to NBC Palm Springs. Officers arrived at the Air Museum around 1:37 a.m. after receiving reports of an active assault, the station reported.
Glass Bottles Banned From Future Splash House Events
In the aftermath, the Palm Springs Police Department announced it was reviewing its event response protocols and worked with Splash House organizers to institute an immediate ban on glass bottles at future events, NBC Palm Springs reported. Glass containers had previously been accessible in certain areas of the venue, including the VIP section where the thrown bottles are believed to have originated.
Under California Penal Code § 245(a)(1), assault with a deadly weapon that is not a firearm is a “wobbler” offense that can be charged as a felony carrying up to four years in state prison per count, according to My Rights Law. Glass bottles can qualify as deadly weapons depending on how they are used, and prosecutors are not required to prove intent to injure in order to secure a conviction under that statute.
A Mid-Summer Draw for Palm Springs Hotels
Splash House is now in its 13th year and is held at the Hilton Palm Springs, Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel and Saguaro Palm Springs, with daytime pool parties giving way to after-hours sets at the Air Museum. The electronic music festival was co-founded in 2013 by Palm Springs native Tyler McLean and is produced in partnership with Goldenvoice, the AEG Presents subsidiary also behind the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, according to the Los Angeles Times. The festival draws roughly 7,000 attendees per weekend, making it a key mid-summer economic driver for local hotels during the desert's slower season.
The festival's second and final weekend of the summer begins Friday, giving organizers and police only days to put the new glass ban and any revised security measures into practice. Industry outlet Your EDM noted that the Splash House incident fits a broader pattern seen across North American music festivals this summer, pointing to crowd-control and safety issues reported at events including Lollapalooza and Tomorrowland.
