Officers made 'unintentional mistakes' during Utah traffic stop with Gabby Petito, Brian Laundrie, report finds.
A review of the traffic stop in Utah where officers spoke to Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie days before she was killed found officers made “unintentional mistakes,” according to media reports.
Officials who conducted the review called for the officers to be placed on probation and for the city to update its training.
The report was released late Jan. 12, according to Fox 13 in Salt Lake City.
Moab City police spoke to Petito and Laundrie on Aug. 12 following a domestic incident. Body camera footage of the interaction was released as the Petito case captivated the nation.
The original police report noted the officers determined that Petito was the aggressor in the incident, but the officers let both Petito and Laundrie go without arrest and called the situation a mental health episode.
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However, the report— completed by the Price City Police Department in Utah — stated that Utah law says that officers should arrest or cite the aggressor in the case, according to Fox 13. The report chided officers Eric Pratt and Daniel Robbins for failing to press charges.
Days after the interaction with Moab City officers, Petito was reported missing during her cross-country trip with Laundrie. He returned to Florida, and she was found dead in a Wyoming national park. A national manhunt unfolded for Laundrie. Weeks later, he was found dead in a Florida nature preserve.
"Would Gabby be alive today if this case was handled differently? That is an impossible question to answer despite it being the answer many people want to know. Nobody knows and nobody will ever know the answer to that question," wrote Capt. Brandon Ratcliffe in the report, according to Fox 13.
City of Moab officials released a statement after the report saying it would implement the report’s recommendation for domestic violence and legal training for police. The city did not address the status of the officers in the stop, according to WAFB.
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