Jeanine Pirro slams cops for not arresting Brian Laundrie after he hit Gabby Petito
Conservative television host Jeanine Pirro, a former New York State judge, prosecutor, and politician, slammed Utah police, saying officers had "probable cause" to arrest Brian Laundrie after witnesses said he hit Gabrielle 'Gabby' Petito.
On Saturday, September 25, Pirro slammed Moab officers on her Fox News show ‘Justice with Judge Jeanine’ over their August 12 handling of a traffic stop where both Laundrie, 23, and Petito, 22, were questioned after he was allegedly seen slapping his fiance.
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A federal court in Wyoming issued an arrest warrant for Laundrie in relation to a grand jury indictment for his "activities following the death of Gabrielle Petito.” Laundrie allegedly used “one or more unauthorized devices”, including a debit card and PIN numbers for two bank accounts, to fraudulently obtain more than $1,000 between August 30 and September 1. It is yet to be revealed, who the card belonged to.
The FBI alleged that Laundrie "knowingly and with intent to defraud, used one or more unauthorized access devices, namely a Capitol One Bank debit card" and personal identification numbers for two accounts. The attorney for Laundrie's family contacted the FBI on September 17 indicating they wanted to talk about their son's disappearance. They said they have not seen him since September 14.
He told his parents he was going for a hike in the Carlton Reserve, a roughly 25,000-acre wetlands area in Sarasota County and has not been seen since. Laundrie's family told police he left home with his backpack. He’s since been at large, with cops searching for him in the swampy forest.
Pirro criticized an unnamed "former seasoned law enforcement officer" who said domestic violence laws were not made for "people going through your town, or county." She said, "That was wrong. Domestic violence laws were made to protect domestic violence victims, wherever that crime occurs. Your address is irrelevant."
She also reportedly cited the Utah Code, adding officers' "primary duty of care", when responding to a domestic violence call, is "to protect the victim." She said, "If the peace officer has probable cause to believe there will be continued violence against the alleged victim, the officer shall arrest and take the perpetrator into custody, shall means must."
Pirro, talking about the bodycam footage of the August 12 traffic stop, said, "Now, police officers are trained to look out for a victim who is crying, takes responsibility, is often afraid to speak up. Laundrie, Brian Laundrie, was seen by witnesses — who called 911 — hitting Gabby Petito repeatedly and the officers indicated he had her phone, he was preventing her from getting in the van. An arrest should have been considered and there was probable cause to make it."
The City of Moab reportedly announced it would investigate how its police department responded to the domestic violence dispute between Laundrie and Petito. Moab City Police Chief Bret Edge said, "We look forward to the investigation. Should the investigation identify areas for improvement we will take that information to heart, learn from it, and make changes if needed to ensure we are providing the best response and service to our community."
Pirro, on another Fox News show also slammed Laundrie’s parents, saying they were “very involved in making sure he was able to escape and covering up his whereabouts until the 17th. So, they had from September 1st to the 17th.” She said, “All this unusual activity, buying a camper, he goes camping with his parents, I don’t know any 23-year-old who does that. They were either casing out a place where he could go or getting rid of evidence. I think he is arrogant enough to think he can survive this. But on the other hand, he may say I don’t want to go to jail, so I would rather die. Who knows?”
She added, “Remember, the parents helped him clean out the camper, her van that he brought back. We don’t know what was in the van. We don’t know what was in the Mustang. The parents have pretty much kept all of that away from the police. By their silence, by their lawyering up, there is all kinds of evidence that’s gone.”