Police video capturing the arrest of singer-songwriter Todd Snider shows the disheveled and disoriented musician being handcuffed and taken to jail while telling officers he had been mugged the previous night, was sick and in pain and begging to be allowed into the hospital.
Snider’s public relations team posted on social media that the Americana musician had been violently assaulted before a show at The Commonwealth Room on Saturday night. That show, along with the rest of Snider’s tour, was canceled, his team said.
South Salt Lake City police have said they were called to a reported assault but “limited information was obtained” and the location and other details surrounding the incident were “unclear.”
Salt Lake City police, however, said that they were called Sunday afternoon to 245 S. State Street after Snider had flagged someone down and had them call officers, saying he needed a place to stay and wanted to go to the hospital.
They refused to take him to the hospital, according to a police spokesperson, and a few hours later, Snider arrived at Common Spirit-Holy Cross Hospital.
Snider was told to leave the hospital but refused, according to court records. He then allegedly yelled at staff and threatened to beat them up.
(Salt Lake City Police Department) Body-worn camera footage shows the arrest of musician Todd Snider in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.
The police body camera video picks up as Snider is being escorted from the hospital, carrying his passport and other papers.
“See the staples in my head?” Snider told the officers, his speech noticeably slurred. “I got mugged. I got turned away by the hospital.”
The officer pointed out that if they put staples in his head, they didn’t turn him away. The officers handcuffed the musician and put him in the back of the police car.
“Compassion is just stupid,” Snider said.
The video then goes to a nurse who explains that Snider had been assaulted the night before and seen at two different hospitals before showing up Sunday at Holy Cross Hospital.
“He just said his whole body hurts and then he said he wanted a place to sleep overnight,” the nurse said. When he was told he couldn’t stay there, “that’s when everything escalated.”
Snider started cursing and calling people names, the nurse says on the video. A security guard said Snider was knocking on neighbors’ doors when the nurse chased him down to give him back his debit card. The security guard said that Snider said he would “kick your ass” and that “he’s richer than me and I’ll never be anything.”
When officers returned to the police car, Snider said his neck and back were in pain. The officer read him his Miranda rights, and Snider said that “I need to be in a hospital, not in jail, please. … I need a bed. I’m sick.”
“I’m not homeless,” Snider said. “I live in Nashville. I have a band. I’m famous. My band ditched me. I need my lawyer here. I’m not a bad person, I promise.”
The officer asked when Snider last slept and he said it had “been so long” because he had been in so much pain.
“I can’t go to jail,” he said. “I don’t have my medicine.”
Snider said he didn’t threaten anyone. “I promise I’m a good man,” he said.
“Sir, I am sick. Please let me go to the hospital. Please give me one more chance,” Snider pleaded. “I am begging you for mercy. … Please have mercy.”
The video then shows the officer driving Snider to the Salt Lake County jail, where he was booked Sunday night and released without bail Monday morning.
Snider is an Americana singer-songwriter and storyteller who has been recording for the past three decades. He is best known for songs like “Alright Guy,” “Beer Run” and “I Can’t Complain.” His most recent album, “High, Lonesome and Then Some,” was released Oct. 17.