Additional Details on the Todd Snider Assault and Why His Band Walked Away

As the Americana, country, East Nashville, and songwriting communities mourn the death of Todd Snider on November 14, many questions still remain about what happened to him during his time in Salt Lake City—events that ultimately led to his hospitalization and, eventually, his passing. Snider had been scheduled to perform at The Commonwealth Room in South Salt Lake on November 1, but the show never took place.

The explanation offered by Todd Snider’s camp on November 3 was that Snider had been the victim of a violent assault on Halloween night, October 31, outside his hotel in Salt Lake City. This alleged attack was said to be the reason he later died at a hospital in Nashville. However, very little public information exists about the incident. No suspects were named. No video or photos of the alleged attackers were released. All that is known is that Snider arrived at a hospital after the supposed assault and received 22 stitches to his head.

One complicating factor in uncovering information about the alleged attack—and perhaps the reason it was never fully investigated—seems to stem partly from the geography of Salt Lake City. The location where Todd Snider was staying on October 31 and where the alleged assault took place appeared to be in Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, the venue where Snider was scheduled to perform, The Commonwealth Room, is located in an area known as “South Salt Lake.”

Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake sit adjacent to each other but have separate police departments and separate jurisdictions. When the alleged attack occurred on October 31, no one called the police. Authorities were not contacted until November 1, when Snider was at The Commonwealth Room in South Salt Lake. Thus, while South Salt Lake Police became involved, if the attack actually took place within Salt Lake City limits, it would fall under Salt Lake City’s jurisdiction. The Commonwealth Room is only a few meters from the boundary dividing the two cities.

After speaking with representatives from both the Salt Lake City Police Department and the South Salt Lake Police Department, it appears neither agency believes the alleged assault occurred within their jurisdiction—although clearly it must have occurred in one of them. Salt Lake City says no investigation exists. South Salt Lake says they may close their investigation unless new evidence or information emerges.

“There was no assault within our jurisdiction,” Detective Michael Ruff of the Salt Lake City Police Department told Saving Country Music. “As far as anyone knows, the incident occurred within South Salt Lake’s jurisdiction. I know they’ll have a bunch of information on the incident, but nothing occurred in our jurisdiction. We arrested him later at the hospital. But we didn’t receive any assault report. We have no report. We never received an assault report.”

Records Supervisor Aretha Edwards of South Salt Lake told Saving Country Music:
“This case belongs to Salt Lake City. Honestly, I don’t understand why they keep sending you here. We’re not as deeply involved as Salt Lake. They’re the ones gathering information about the aggravated assault. I have the case listed under Salt Lake, and it occurred within their jurisdiction. So I’m not sure where the confusion lies.”

When pressed on whether the alleged assault may indeed have occurred within Salt Lake City jurisdiction, Detective Ruff replied:
“We never received a report about anything at the hotel. We don’t know where he was. That’s all news I’ve never heard in the last three weeks after dealing with this to the point of exhaustion. Nobody has ever provided a hotel or an address in Salt Lake City. That was never presented. Someone from his public team posted that on social media.”

Detective Ruff continued:
“I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to determine what truly happened. Every time we tried to speak with [Todd Snider], unfortunately, he provided very little information. The information was extremely vague… So there was nothing for us to pursue within our jurisdiction. There is no active investigation, and unfortunately with Mr. Snider’s death, that ends any inquiry since there is no longer a victim.”

When asked what would happen if the alleged assault was later determined to be significant or responsible for Snider’s eventual death, Detective Ruff said the answer would depend on the medical examiner’s report. The autopsy was scheduled to be conducted in Tennessee and expected to take 5–7 weeks.

Concerning any active investigation by the South Salt Lake Police Department, Records Supervisor Aretha Edwards stated:
“We have a lead investigator assigned. However, they may close the investigation sooner than expected unless something new occurs.”

Coincidentally, Todd Snider had another interaction with the Salt Lake City Police Department on November 2—two days after the original alleged incident. That interaction occurred near 245 E. State Street. Snider himself later claimed after returning home to Nashville that he had been attacked a second time in Salt Lake City, possibly at a laundromat where he sought warmth. Detective Ruff explained:

“When he called later, he flagged someone down and basically said, ‘I need an ambulance because I need somewhere to sleep.’ But at that point, he had already been treated for his injury. That’s when he was transported to the second hospital, after first being taken to the South Salt Lake hospital.”

Saving Country Music has requested bodycam footage and dispatch/911 audio regarding the November 2 interaction with Snider at 245 E. State St.

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Another notable point raised by fans and friends of Todd Snider is his statement that his band had “abandoned” him. This information comes from both police statements recounting Snider’s words and video footage of Snider being arrested at Holy Cross Hospital on November 2, where he said the same thing.

It has been confirmed that Todd Snider’s band left Salt Lake City shortly after the Commonwealth Room show was canceled. However, after speaking with multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation, once Snider was injured on October 31 and it became clear the tour would be canceled, there was no reason for the band to remain in Salt Lake City—and they were sent home by the tour manager.

The tour manager remained in Salt Lake City for some time to try to care for Snider, but was unable to do so, as Snider was acting erratically and ran off. Snider was not carrying a cell phone. It was the tour manager who called police at The Commonwealth Room on November 1 after discovering that Snider had been sexually assaulted the night before.

Although no official investigation exists, Saving Country Music obtained records from the South Salt Lake Police Department offering additional details. Officer Tanner Doria reported:

“At approximately 3:18 PM on November 1, 2025, I spoke with [Manager] by phone regarding an assault that occurred at 195 W Commonwealth Ave, South Salt Lake, Utah 84115. He is the manager of a performing artist at the coordinated address and had learned his artist was assaulted the night before. The artist had been transported by South Salt Lake Fire to the [redacted] Medical Center in Murray.

“After being unable to reach the manager by phone, I headed to the hospital to gather victim information and learn more about the incident. While en route, the manager called me back. I identified myself and asked for additional details. The manager stated he did not know why I was calling and said he had requested only an ambulance, not police.

“I asked whether he wished to file a further report, and he declined. My conversation with the manager ended there. He never provided information about the involved party and insisted they did not want to speak with law enforcement.”

Whoever allegedly assaulted Todd Snider—and wherever it occurred—Snider still received 22 stitches to his head. This may also have contributed to a concussion or brain injury, severely affecting his judgment and overall health. Perhaps the alleged assault is unrelated to the ultimate cause of death, since pneumonia and sepsis were cited as the reasons Snider died. But it was this incident that triggered the chain of events leading to his death.

If someone is responsible for the alleged assault, identifying and prosecuting them is in the public’s best interest to prevent such an incident from happening again. There was indeed a victim—if the assault truly occurred. His name was Todd Snider

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