During the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, thieves took advantage of distracted festival-goers, striking at least five hotel rooms in the luxury La Quinta Resort and Club. Guests returned late at night to find their rooms ransacked, with thieves prioritizing high-value designer items over easily traceable goods. Many victims, including James King and Ellie Brownridge, reported losing approximately $100,000 worth of possessions. Despite some items being secured in the room safe, the losses included heirloom jewelry and designer clothing, with a light-hearted moment emerging when the pair joked about the thieves leaving behind half-used perfumes.
"We were tired and didn't see anything that was amiss or abnormally misplaced. It didn't look like anything happened until we looked. That's when we noticed everything was gone," said James King.
Brownridge told KESQ-TV on Saturday that she estimated that between the three groups of people who'd had items stolen that she was aware of, they'd lost at least $100,000 in goods.
"They left all the half-used [perfumes], said Brownridge. That was really nice, we appreciated that," the pair said in unison, laughing.
The thieves ignored easily traceable items like laptops in favor of designer handbags, sunglasses, perfume and clothing, as guests were distracted by the festival.
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