The parents of Gabby Petito, the young woman killed in Utah by her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, have filed a massive wrongful death lawsuit in the amount of $50 million dollars alleging that the Moab police acted in a manner contributing to her situation.
Fox News writes:
“Lawyers for Gabby Petito’s parents announced Monday that they will file a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab Police Department, two officers who interacted with her just days before her death and two former leaders.
The family alleges that Moab officers Eric Pratt and Daniel Robbins failed to properly handle a 911 call in which a witness claimed he saw Brian Laundrie hitting Petito and trying to steal her phone and drive off without her in the middle of downtown Moab.”
The saga of Petito and Laundrie made national headlines last summer after the vlogging couple mysteriously separated, with the latter flying home alone to Florida and the former having vanished altogether. From the beginning, it seemed odd that a boyfriend with a known police interaction for domestic violence would fly home alone and disappear from public life. He later committed suicide in a nearby swamp with a note confessing he was the killer.
That police interaction in question gave rise to rampant speculation from the onset of the story that Laundrie was somehow involved. In released bodycam videos, the pair can be seen talking to officers. Petito in particular was quite distressed.
Fox recaps that particular episode:
“The Moab Police Department drew scrutiny after a pair of bodycam videos, from Officers Pratt and Robbins, emerged showing its response to the Petito-Laundrie dispute, in which police made no arrests or citations despite a Utah statute requiring one to be issued in domestic violence incidents. After interviewing both Petito and Laundrie, as well as another witness, officers ruled out domestic violence and deemed the incident a “mental health break.”
Petito appeared visibly shaken throughout the entire encounter and told officers that Laundrie had grabbed her face while gesturing toward her neck. But the officers appeared to rule her the aggressor – and they seemed reluctant to arrest the diminutive, distressed woman at the time. But they also didn’t appear to even view Laundrie as a potential suspect despite the 911 caller alleging that he was an aggressor.”
This story has huge implications for how law enforcement interacts with the public in the future. Taking a page out of Benjamin Crump’s playbook, the Petito family is attempting to cash in on both their daughter’s and the police’s mistakes. Surely the parents must regret letting their young daughter vagabond with a relatively unknown man, no doubt feeding their desire to place personal and financial blame on local Moab police.
Not too long ago, race-baiting attorney Benjamin Crump landed a record $27 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis for the death of George Floyd. Now another family wants almost double that based on the lack of a citation being issued?
I am sorry two young people were caught up in an emotional storm that they couldn’t handle and paid the ultimate price. It’s tragic. However, everything that has happened since then is nothing more than tabloid fodder and covetenous. If the Petito family wins this case, it seems reasonable that any unhappy ending could be grounds for blaming law enforcement. That’s a dangerous path to go down.
Hailey Sanibel fiercely loves freedom. She equally detests evil and stupidity, both of which are out of control in the modern world. She is a regular contributor at The Blue State Conservative.
Featured image: Screenshot from officer body camera.
This story syndicated with permission from The Blue State Conservative