CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — A 40-year-old man who allegedly declared he wanted to detonate explosives at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio last weekend pleaded not guilty Wednesday to falsely reporting a bomb.

Davis Solomon Darvish of Santa Monica was arrested Saturday following a Cathedral City Police Department investigation.

Darvish was arraigned on the felony count during a hearing Wednesday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for April 25 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Darvish's public defender argued during the arraignment that his client's actions did not pose a credible threat to the community because he had nothing in his possession that would have constituted a threat, and instead the entire episode approximated a "crank call."

The judge was unsympathetic to the argument and relied on a CCPD bail- setting declaration indicating that Darvish did represent a threat, ordering the defendant held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Police said that shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday, Darvish told Agua Caliente Casino security guards that he intended to bomb the festival. The guards then alerted the police department, telling 911 dispatchers the defendant had left the resort in a Tesla, providing a complete description of the car and driver.

Festival security personnel were additionally advised to be on the lookout for the defendant and vehicle.

Around noon Saturday, Palm Springs police officers spotted the Tesla in the area of Calle El Segundo and Saturnino Road, prompting them to stop the defendant and search his Tesla, which contained no incendiary materials, authorities said.

Darvish was taken into custody without incident, initially booked in lieu of $1 million bail.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.