Country music singer begged police for help days before his death

The music world was rocked recently by the death of popular singer/songwriter Todd Snider after a reported battle with walking pneumonia.

He was 59.

Heartbreakingly, Snider’s death came after he was reportedly violently attacked prior to a scheduled show in Salt Lake City, Utah back on Nov. 3. That incident apparently led to a spiral for Snider that ultimately led up to his death. That included an arrest outside of a hospital following the assault.

And police bodycam footage of that was released just one day before his death.

The footage showed Snider, appearing disoriented, while a hospital representative explains to police that the singer had already been treated at one of their sister hospitals.

“He was assaulted like last night,” the person told police. “He was just discharged from one of our sister hospitals about 12:30. He came today and I just straight up asked him, ‘What is it that you want us to do for you that they haven’t already done for you?’ And he said his whole body hurts, and then he said he just wanted a place to sleep overnight. And I said that we are not a place you can sleep overnight. If you need a place to sleep overnight, you’re going to have to find some place else. That is when everything escalated.”

The person from the hospital said that Snider was “being loud and obnoxious.” A security guard said that Snider said he wanted to “kick my ass.”

Video showed police reading an emotional Snider his rights.

“I just want to be treated,” he said. “I need to be in the hospital not in the jail. Please! I checked out and I tried to check back in.”

Police then told Snider that the hospital said he was looking for a bed, and he can’t stay there.

“I’m sick,” he pleaded. “Where can I stay?”

That is when police asked him if he was homeless.

“I’m not homeless,” Snider said. “I live in Nashville. I have a band. I’m famous.

“I’m not a bad person,” he added. “I promise. I promise you can check my record. I just need help.”

Police asked Snider where his pain was.

“It’s in my neck and my back, my arms and my legs and my stomach,” he said. “It’s everywhere. It’s excruciating.”

Not much was heard from Snider in the days that followed, but on Friday his team posted a message to his Instagram warning that his condition had taken a concerning turn.

“We have some difficult news to share,” a post to his Instagram account read. “After Todd returned home to recover last week, he began having trouble breathing and was admitted to the hospital in Hendersonville, TN. We learned from his doctors that he had been quietly suffering from an undiagnosed case of walking pneumonia.

“Our beloved brother’s condition has become more complicated, and he’s since been transferred for additional treatment,” the statement continued. “His care team and those closest to him are by his side and doing everything they can. Right now we’re asking everyone who loves Todd to hold him in your thoughts in whatever way feels right to you. Say a prayer, light a candle, roll one up, send strength, or just keep him close in your heart. You’ve carried him through so much over the years, and he needs that from all of us now more than ever.”

Then, on Saturday, his death was announced.

“Aimless Inc. Headquarters is heartbroken to share that our Founder, our Folk Hero, our Poet of the World, the Vice President of the Abrupt Change Dept., the Storyteller, our beloved Todd Daniel Snider has departed this world,” a post Saturday on his Instagram read.

The lengthy statement closed with, “We love you Todd, sail on old friend, we’ll see you again out there on the road somewhere down the line. You’ll always be a force of nature.”