SALT LAKE CITY — Weeks after singer Todd Snider claimed to have been assaulted while on tour in Salt Lake City, police say they found no evidence to back up the claim, adding that Snider may have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time.
Snider and his team claimed in a social media post that he had been assaulted on Halloween night, forcing him to cancel a scheduled show the following day at The Commonwealth Room in South Salt Lake.
In its investigation report, the Salt Lake City Police Department said Snider's manager had called from Tennessee to report the assault that left the singer with a "significant laceration to the back of his head." The manager said Snider was transported to the hospital, where he received staples, and claimed to have been injured by a glass bottle after hearing a doctor say they had "removed broken glass from Todd's scalp."
However, it was later revealed that Snider himself had been arrested days later, on Nov. 2, at Holy Cross Hospital for causing a disturbance. The police report shared that Snider was scheduled to return to Nashville on Nov. 2, but was still in pain and transported to the hospital in Salt Lake City.
In body camera video of the arrest shared by the Salt Lake City Police, Snider is seen slurring his words and speaking erratically as he spoke with officers. Hospital staff were seen telling police that Snider had yelled and cursed at employees, and threatened a staff member, saying he would "kick your a__."
Bodycam video shows Todd Snider's interactions with police during arrest:
Snider was released from jail and returned home to Tennessee, where he died on Nov. 15, days after his management team said he had been diagnosed with walking pneumonia.
The Salt Lake City Police Department's final report said Snider's original injury was likely "self-induced" from an accidental fall, and that the singer might have believed he had been assaulted after going unconscious and finding blood on his head.
Police reviewed surveillance video that showed Snider's tour bus outside their Salt Lake City hotel on the night of the alleged assault. Snider was seen walking without injury from the bus to the hotel, although "staggering and swaying," and then returning about an hour later. A hotel staff member also told police that Snider was not injured when he passed through the lobby, but that the singer was "swaying and walking slightly off balance."
After being on the bus for an hour, Snider's band members were seen in the video making contact with the singer at 8:45 p.m. at the door of the bus. Once the interaction ended, the door closed, and Snider remained on the bus "for the duration of the night," police reported, and no one else was seen entering or exiting the bus.
A member of Snider's band said the singer chose to stay back and not attend a group dinner. When the band returned to the hotel just before 9 p.m., the band member took a step inside the bus to bring Snider food, where she heard him "yelling out... and appeared to be in some sort of distress."
In its report, police said after interviews with witnesses, including band members, hotel employees and his tour manager, "at this time, we are unable to confirm that an assault occurred on the tour bus. Due to all the reported actions above, it is likely that Todd may have fallen on the tour bus and struck his head causing the injury."
