Eric Pratt: Cop who pulled over Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito 'doesn't like' policing
MOAB, UTAH: Following the release of the second police bodycam footage from August 12 where Moab Police Department officers questioned Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie after allegations of intimate partner violence, the PD has come under scrutiny. The nearly hour-long video showed Gabby Petito telling Moab Police Officer Eric Pratt that Laundrie hit her before she seemingly backtracked and claimed she struck first.
The police “intervention” ended without an arrest, and Laundrie stayed at a hotel that night, according to a police report. The couple continued on their van trip until Petito was found dead in Wyoming on September 19, while Laundrie, who is the only person of interest in her homicide and subject of a federal arrest warrant, remains on the run.
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Earlier, Moab Assistant Chief of Police Braydon Palmer refused to comment on the way Pratt handled the incident. He cited an ongoing investigation the city has initiated into the department’s handling of the Petito-Laundrie fight, adding that "it is important to us to ensure that the integrity of that investigation is maintained and due process for those involved is protected."
As per a Fox News report, in a 2019 podcast, Pratt said he once worked as a corrections officer for the state of Utah and was the police chief of Salina, which has a population of around 2,500, until the end of 2017. "When I left Salina I was trying to quit law enforcement for good, and I made it about eight or nine months before I went back," he said during his appearance on the ‘Books in Heinessight’ podcast. "There is not a lot of job opportunities outside of law enforcement in central Utah."
As per The Sun, on the podcast, Pratt said there were many reasons he became "disillusioned" with police work, explaining in Salina he had to think more about legislation and how politics affected his department. "When the curtain got lifted and I got to see how everything's going, why things are the way they are, I started to realize nobody really has the answers, we're all kind of clueless," he said. "The people who we put in place, they're just like us. And so you start to have to do critical thinking. I think there's a time in every man's life when he kind of gets to know who he is and has to think critically.”
He said he “started to just kind of think 'wow, why is this law this way', because if I go and enforce that law, I'm going to have this impact on this person's life, and it's my job to do it. Is there another way I can enforce this law that's lesser or more appropriate to this situation? Or more severe or more appropriate for this situation?"
He said, "Some days I felt like a glorified tax collector for the state. You know, I grew up in a very poor family, I grew up with parents who couldn't always register their car on time, two or three months out. I used to pull people over for no insurance, and I was supposed to impound their vehicle.”
He added, “I'd find my own loopholes, perfectly legal and I think very just loopholes. For example, I'd tell the person, hey, this stop is going to take me about 15 to 17 minutes, if nothing else arises. If you could call an insurance company and get insurance over the phone and get it right now, most people can do that for under $100, and if you can show me proof of it and I can confirm it because this stop is over, I won't submit the citation and I won't impound your car and you can drive away."
Pratt also said, "Who do I work for? I get paid by the state and the city, but who does the state and the city work for? Us. The people that I pull over, the people whose houses I go to. Whose team am I on? There shouldn't be an us vs them. Those kinds of questions started to keep me awake at night, as I do things I had to do for my job, and it impacted people. I'm not saying police are not necessary, and I'm not saying they're not amazing people, but man, it just suits some people better than others.”
"It took me 13 years of doing it to realize, I could do it, but I don't feel good, I don't like it. I'm glad someone is doing it, and I respect them, but I just can't keep doing it,” he said, adding that the job "doesn't pay enough for that kind of stress," and insisted even if he was paid two or three times his wage he'd still not want do it. "What good is your money if you're dead? Cops do it for pretty low wages in this state," he said.