Gabby Petito's death has left Moab town in trauma, locals call for ‘shake-up’ of cops: 'We don't trust them'
MOAB, UTAH: The locals in Moab are calling for a shake-up within the local police department as the small Utah town where Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie had a violent argument days before she was murdered is haunted by her death. Petito's devastated family who is seeking $50million in damages filed a wrongful death lawsuit where Moab PD and a number of its officers are set to be named.
On August 12, last year, Petito and Laundrie were pulled over by the police in their van after a 911 call about a 'domestic dispute'. Shocking body-cam footage showed how the incompetent police officers dealt with the incident. MEAWW reported that an unnamed new beholder has come out giving more details into the Moab fight that happened between the couple and has reportedly claimed that he saw Brian attacking the YouTuber with “a closed fist”. Despite both displaying injuries, police in Utah decided to only separate the pair for the night, and named Gabby as the aggressor, getting Brian help and a hotel, while she got the van.
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Police failed to get a statement from the 911 caller, who claimed to have seen Brian slap Gabby, and an independent investigation into their conduct found the officers made a number of other mistakes. Just days later, she was strangled to death by her fiancé in Wyoming where they had continued her trip, as he returned home to Florida without her.
MEAWW also reported Eric Pratt, one of the two officers who stopped Petito and Laundrie during a traffic stop has been promoted within the Moab Police and made a detective in Utah. Gabby's mother and father have named him, along with Officer Daniel Robbins, its then-Chief Bret Edge, and ex-Assistant Chief Braydon Palmer, in a notice to file and plan to sue Moab PD in the coming months.
According to the reports obtained by The Sun, many locals were unimpressed by the police department. Since the town was thrust into the spotlight, the department has hired a new police chief, Jared Garcia, but most of the residents are yet to meet him after he took on the role in May. The police department is also in the process of recruiting new officers, although many of the roles are yet to be filled, with locals citing the housing crisis and low wages in the tourist town deterring applicants.
Residents have nicknamed Petito as "America's daughter" after the story made headlines around the world last year and they said that they were still heartbroken for Gabby's family. "I've had bad experiences in the past, I think it's been a good old boys situation, and it's still a good old boys situation", said Barbara Lawley, 62, when asked about the local police. Lawley was also asked if Chief Garcia has introduced himself around town but she said "No, he hasn't, but I've seen him in the paper."
Resident Lesley Parker, 50, claimed officers often dine and drink together in town at the same spots after clocking off, and allegedly make a habit of annoying locals. She told "The police officers come in at the end of their shift and they'll just sit at the bar and be loud and obnoxious. They put out a bad vibe. It's like, 'I'm bigger. I'm better. I'm untouchable.' So the locals, we don't trust them, we don't like them."