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Police in Moab, Utah, are calling for patience and calm pending the results of an independent investigation into the response to an August 12 domestic violence call involving Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie.
“The sensationalism of this particular incident does not help the ongoing investigation in any way,” Deputy Chief Braydon Palmer told Fox News Digital in his first high-profile interview. “When it comes to these types of questions, we refrain from commenting in order to protect the integrity of this investigation, to allow all parties involved in this investigation to have due process because they are there. have the right.”
Gabby Petito, left, and Brian Laundrie are seen in body camera footage released by the Moab, Utah City Police Department.
(City of Moab Police Department)
Palmer heads the department after Chief Bret Edge announced he was taking medical leave last month.
GABBY PETITO CASE: MOAB TOP COP TAKES LEAVE FOR 911 CALL TREATMENT INVESTIGATION
The Moab Police Department is under surveillance after two body camera videos appeared showing its response to the Petito-Laundrie dispute, in which police made no arrests or summons despite a Utah law requiring that ‘one is published in response to incidents of domestic violence. After questioning Petito and Laundrie, as well as another witness, officers ruled out domestic violence and called the incident a “mental health break.”
Although Petito appeared visibly shaken and in tears throughout the encounter, the officers who responded were about to label her as an aggressor before ultimately deciding the incident was a “mental health break.” They asked the couple to go their separate ways for the night and drove Laundrie to a motel – where management later told Fox News they couldn’t confirm if he had actually checked in.
THE MOAB POLICE HANDLING INVESTIGATION OF BRIAN LAUNDRIE, GABBY PETITO ALTERCATION
Weeks later, Petito was found dead at a Wyoming campsite, and Laundrie was named a Person of Interest in Death. He is also the subject of an FBI-led manhunt on a federal debit card fraud charge.
“Obviously, our thoughts are with the family, ”Palmer said.
One of the critics of the Moab Police response is former Grand County District Attorney Happy Morgan, who is now a public defender in a nearby community.
Contrary to some reports, she said her email to Palmer urging her to post the second officer’s body camera video had not been “leaked” – she shared it with local media.
“Emails to KUTV were proudly sent by me – no leaks,” she told Fox News. “In the emails, I was pressuring Acting Chief Palmer to hand over the [Officer Eric] video of Pratt to the press. “
Body camera videos of two officers were released in connection with the incident.
The first, from Officer Daniel Robbins, appeared on September 16 after Fox News Digital was the first to report that the couple were involved in a domestic incident on August 12 in Moab.
The department released a video of Agent Eric Pratt on October 1.
Officials in the city of Moab announced the outside investigation on September 23.
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Other body camera videos of a pair of U.S. forest rangers who have also arrived at the scene have yet to be released.
Chief Palmer said he did not yet have a specific timeline for completing the investigation.
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