Palm Springs Festival of LightsMotorcycle Crash
During the Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade, a Palm Springs Police motorcycle officer lost control of his motorcycle and went into spectators along the parade route. The California Highway Patrol investigated. Later reporting and the Palm Springs Police Department’s 2025 administrative review said unauthorized or unsanctioned motorcycle maneuvers occurred before the crash and that the department later adopted safety reforms.
Incident Overview
What happened
During the Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade, a Palm Springs Police motorcycle officer lost control of his motorcycle and went into spectators along the parade route. The California Highway Patrol investigated. Later reporting and the Palm Springs Police Department’s 2025 administrative review said unauthorized or unsanctioned motorcycle maneuvers occurred before the crash and that the department later adopted safety reforms.
The event took place during the Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade in downtown Palm Springs. The city placed the crash at Palm Canyon Drive and Amado Road on the parade route.
Verified Details
Known from the file
Date: 07/12/2024. Multiple sources identify the crash as occurring on Saturday, December 7, 2024, shortly after 6:00 p.m. local time.
Location: Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade, downtown Palm Springs, California, United States. The City of Palm Springs said the accident occurred “on the parade route at Palm Canyon Dr. and Amado Rd.” The city’s event listing described the parade route as running “between Ramon Rd and Alejo Rd along N. Palm Canyon Rd.”
Incident name: Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade motorcycle crash / Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade traffic accident. The user’s incident name matches the naming used in reporting; the city’s official advisory used “Festival of Lights Parade Traffic Accident.”
Reported injuries: Conflicting counts were reported. The City of Palm Springs and early AP/ABC/MyNewsLA/Fox reporting said 10 injured total, including the officer. KESQ, NBC Palm Springs, and later 2025 local reporting gave totals of 11 or 12 injured. A 2025 KESQ lawsuit article referred to 15 victims represented by counsel, which is not the same as a contemporaneous official injury count.
Reported fatalities: No fatalities reported.
Check disputed details →Key Figures
Reported Numbers
Chronology
Incident Timeline
Operational Details
Key Points
Disputed Details
Conflicting Information
The source file identifies several points where reporting differs. These are shown openly rather than tidied into a false certainty.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so it is retained as unresolved rather than forced into a single answer.
City of Palm Springs advisory, AP, MyNewsLA, Fox News: 10 injured total, including the officer.
ABC7 follow-up: 11 hurt; KESQ and NBC Palm Springs follow-ups: 12 injured total; 2025 KESQ lawsuit article: 15 victims represented.
The early official count was 10. Later articles reported 11 or 12, and a later lawsuit article referenced 15 represented victims. The sources do not fully reconcile whether later numbers reflect revised injury totals, later-identified victims, or legal claimants.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so it is retained as unresolved rather than forced into a single answer.
Early ABC7 and some secondary reports said the officer severed or lost his hand.
ABC7 follow-up said Merenda fractured his hand; KESQ reported he did not lose his hand and would need future surgeries; KESQ also described a severe hand injury.
The later KESQ reporting is more specific and directly attributes the clarification to Chief Andy Mills.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so it is retained as unresolved rather than forced into a single answer.
KESQ, ABC7, People and later reporting identify the officer as Kenney or Kenneth Merenda.
NBC Palm Springs article referred to “Officer Ken Miranda.”
“Ken Miranda” appears inconsistent with the weight of other reporting and may be an error.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so it is retained as unresolved rather than forced into a single answer.
Witness-based reports said the officer was doing a wheelie or “popping a wheelie.”
Chief Andy Mills told KESQ the officer lost balance when turning around the back side of a car and his foot slipped off the peg; the 2025 administrative review said several officers were performing unauthorized maneuvers including “bumping up.”
Witness descriptions and later official explanations are not identical, though both point to unauthorized or risky maneuvering before loss of control.
Not Verified
Open Points
The following details were not verified in the reviewed source set.
Source Material
References
References are grouped as cards below. Official city and department material is included alongside news and follow-up reporting.
All Document URLs
Source Links
Open-source links from the source file, including news reports, official pages, and social-media references.
