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Gabby Petito: New bodycam footage shows her telling cops Brian Laundrie SCRATCHED her face

Bodycam footage from August 12 shows Petito telling two Moab cops that Laundrie had hit her, a claim the latter had brushed off in another video

NORTH PORT, FLORIDA: Two Moab cops are under fire after the release of new bodycam footage from August 12 where Gabby Petito claimed she endured physical violence at the hands of Brian Laundrie. Under Utah laws, cops are required to arrest someone or issue a citation when they have "probable cause to believe that an act of domestic violence has been committed." However, the cops just advised them to take a breather from each other in spite of the fact that 911 dispatcher who directed them to Petito's location after a tip-off from a man identified as 'Christopher', had indicated that Laundrie had struck the blogger. 

Moab city officials have called for an external investigation into the police department's handling of this situation and the officers involved are most likely going to face disciplinary actions, according to a former US Attorney. "I think they will find that they sort of manipulated the situation to not take someone into custody. I think the fact that they had another eyewitness that is not involved in it and is objective, and said ‘he hit her’ … you're going to have a majority of officers take him into custody," he told Fox News. 

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New bodycam footage shows Petito claiming Laundrie struck her

According to a report citing the newly release bodycam footage, Gabby Petito told a police officer that she was struck by Brian Laundrie on August 12. Laundrie on the other hand, in a previous video, had declared he "didn't have time" to defend himself against allegations of physical violence against Petito. When officers were sent at the scene, he had downplayed the situation saying "I pushed her away. She gets really worked up, and when she does she swings and she had her cell phone in her hand. So I was just trying to push her away." 

Brian Entin a reporter with NewsNation tweeted out a thread detailing the bodycam footage details. You can watch a few sections of it here. 

In the new video, Petito was asked, "did he hit you?" in response to which she said, "I guess" after which she went ahead to shoulder the blame. "I guess, yea, but I hit him first," she added. The officer then asked Petito to describe where and how she was hit. She said, "He didn't like hit me in the face. He didn't like punch me in the face or anything." The officer then prodded if she was slapped to which she said while touching her cheek, "Well he like, grabbed me with his nail, and I guess that's why it looks, I definitely have a cut right here. I can feel it, when I touch it, it burns." Along with the officers, two US Park Rangers had also arrived on the scene, their bodycam videos are yet to be made public.

Watch the full footage here: