Todd Bridges' Darkest Days
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When Todd was 26 years old, he was pulled over by the Burbank police. Todd had drugs in the car, and his first instinct was to reach for his gun and commit "suicide by cop."
"I put my hand on my gun because I was so tired of living," he says. "Not that I was going to shoot the police officers, but I was going to point it at them and make them shoot me to really take away the pain."
Then, Todd says a voice spoke to him and told him to put the gun down. "This voice said to me: 'Don't do that. Let go of it and let them take you in,'" he says. "I always say that the Burbank police officers didn't really arrest me. They rescued me in my time of need."
When he got to the police station, Todd says he promised his attorney, Johnnie Cochran, that if he got him out of jail, he'd get his life together. The judge gave Todd two options—go to prison or go to rehab. Todd chose rehab.
Recovery wasn't easy. After a violent outburst early in treatment, Todd says he was stripped down, strapped to a bed and was forced to wear a diaper. "[There's] nothing more demoralizing," he says. "I said, 'This is a far cry from being Willis Jackson.'"
As he lay there, Todd realized something had to change. "I go: 'This has got to stop. I've got to get my life together,'" he says. "And another voice came and said, 'Just give yourself time.' He says. 'I want you to learn to listen.' And I was like, 'Well, listen to who?' He goes, 'Listen to who I put in front of you.'"
"I put my hand on my gun because I was so tired of living," he says. "Not that I was going to shoot the police officers, but I was going to point it at them and make them shoot me to really take away the pain."
Then, Todd says a voice spoke to him and told him to put the gun down. "This voice said to me: 'Don't do that. Let go of it and let them take you in,'" he says. "I always say that the Burbank police officers didn't really arrest me. They rescued me in my time of need."
When he got to the police station, Todd says he promised his attorney, Johnnie Cochran, that if he got him out of jail, he'd get his life together. The judge gave Todd two options—go to prison or go to rehab. Todd chose rehab.
Recovery wasn't easy. After a violent outburst early in treatment, Todd says he was stripped down, strapped to a bed and was forced to wear a diaper. "[There's] nothing more demoralizing," he says. "I said, 'This is a far cry from being Willis Jackson.'"
As he lay there, Todd realized something had to change. "I go: 'This has got to stop. I've got to get my life together,'" he says. "And another voice came and said, 'Just give yourself time.' He says. 'I want you to learn to listen.' And I was like, 'Well, listen to who?' He goes, 'Listen to who I put in front of you.'"
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