Gabby Petito's Family 'Undeterred' In Lawsuit Against Moab Police Department

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — In the wake of clearing a major hurdle in their $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Utah police department involved in the infamous traffic stop and the domestic violence incident with Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie, the slain Long Islander's family remains resilient, their attorney said Monday.

Petito's family sued the City of Moab and its police department in 2022, alleging the actions of officers involved in the traffic stop led to her death in that they did not follow protocol when investigating the domestic violence reported by witnesses on the Main Street of a nearby town. The incident was captured on police bodycam footage, showing an anxious Petito constantly sobbing as she spoke with officers.

The suit alleges the officers did not ask the proper questions that could have identified Petito as a domestic violence victim whose life was in danger. Witnesses reported seeing the couple fighting and Laundrie striking Petito, but the officers determined Petito to be the aggressor and almost arrested her instead, but decided to only split them up for the night.

Laundrie is believed to have strangled Petito within days after the traffic stop.

On Feb. 22, the Utah District Court issued an order setting aside a bond and lifting a stay that cleared the way for the case to move forward, but also granted the parties’ stipulated motion to dismiss claims against the individual officers involved while maintaining all claims against their employer, the Moab City Police Department, for its failures and negligence Petito's family's attorneys say lead to her death.

Three days later on Feb. 25, Petito's family's attorneys filed a second amended complaint as part of their lawsuit against the police.

Salt Lake City attorney Brian Stewart, who represents Petito's parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, said that with the lawsuit they hope to continue to raise awareness of the problem of domestic violence and the deficiency in the resources that are available in a similar situation, and the insufficiency in training in law enforcement.

Part of the lawsuit is to raise money for the Gabby Petito Foundation, which is committed to education and working towards changes all over the country to help save the lives of people in domestic violence situations, he said.

Petito was strangled to death by her fiancé, Laundrie, whom she had been traveling with in a van while documenting their cross-country journey in a video blog. Investigators placed her date of death around Aug. 28, 2021, about 16 days after the traffic stop in Utah.

In the two and a half years since Petito's death, her family has held up by keeping her memory alive in the foundation named after her.

"They're doing well," Stewart said. "They remain quite busy with their efforts to just speak out on issues and are invited to different conferences."

They have also been involved in lobbying for change at the legislative level while also continuing to raise their families.

"They both have kids at home and they're also busy just raising a family and with regular life as well," he said.

Petito's family is not about to give up.

"Although this is a long process and filled with difficulty, they're undeterred, and they're determined to move forward and do whatever it takes to spread Gabby's message and to hopefully save other lives," Stewart said.

Moab spokesperson Lisa Church said the city does not comment on matters related to active litigation.

A Fated Trip Across The Country

Petito, who grew up in Blue Point, was reported missing by her mother on Sept. 11, 2021, after contact was lost with her family during a cross-country trip that ended near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Laundrie drove home from Wyoming alone to his parents' house in Florida. Amid the massive cross-jurisdictional search for Petito involving multiple law enforcement agencies, Laundrie refused to speak with investigators.

Her remains were found on Sept. 19, 2021, eight days after she was reported missing by her mother in her hometown of Suffolk County.

Laundrie's remains were found the following month in a Florida swamp, along with a confession to her killing, after he shot himself.

Laundrie admitted to strangling Petito after she fell into a ravine and was severely injured, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A Lawsuit Seeking Change In Domestic Violence Cases

The bond and the stay in Petito's family's case were hurdles that prevented the litigation from moving forward.

The next steps could be a series of intricate legal spars that depend on how the City of Moab responds to the recent amended complaint.

Attorneys for the city can submit an answer, but they can also ask that the case be dismissed based on the grounds of governmental immunity, according to Stewart.

The city has asked for 30 days from Feb. 25 when the amended complaint was filed.

With the hurdle cleared, Stewart hopes to proceed with written discovery, then followed by the deposition, or formal interviewing of witnesses.

He expects the members of the police department who were involved in the traffic stop, as well as their supervisors, and potentially the Forest Service Rangers, as well as the witnesses who called 911 to say they saw Petito and Laundrie fighting.

Stewart's law firm, Parker and McKonkie, has several attorneys and staff working on the case, and they could partner up with other law firms, he said.

"There are periods of a lot of work and depending on the case," he said, adding, "There are periods where we're waiting for responses and we see that the courts can do that before we proceed."

Petito's family recently settled their civil suit against the parents of Brian Laundrie, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie.

The lawsuit alleged that Laundries were aware of Petito's death and inflicted emotional distress on them by giving false hope that she was still alive in a statement that their lawyer released during the investigation into her disappearance.

It's hard to say if a settlement can be reached in the case against the City of Utah, Stewart said.

"The family would like their day in court, but these things are fraught with risk as well," he said. "And, so we'll have to see as it develops. Of course, we are always open to discussing settlement with the other side, but we're not there yet."

The lawsuit alleges that the officers involved in the traffic stop had a "flawed" investigation, and that Officer Eric Pratt was "fundamentally biased in his approach."

He chose to believe Petito’s abuser, "ignoring evidence that she was the victim and intentionally looking for loopholes to get around the requirements of Utah law and his duty
to protect Gabby," the complaint states.

Pratt has since explained that, at the time of the traffic stop, he believed Laundrie was emotionally and mentally abusing Petito and she did not assault him, and that Laundrie used physical force on Petito by grabbing her face which left a cut on her face, according to the complaint.

"I think the allegations against Pratt are unique," Stewart said. "It's a unique situation in that, like, on video you have essentially him out loud going through the processes of thinking through what he should have done with the case," Stewart said. "And then, he pretty obviously chooses to not follow the law even though he is explaining to his junior partner that they don't have discretion to not effect an arrest."

Stewart said he agrees with the conclusions of the independent review that it sounds like the officers didn't investigate properly and didn't follow the law with respect to responding to domestic violence calls.

"They missed a lot of red flags that they should not have," he said. "They should have seemed to know the severity of Gabby's situation," he said.

An Independent Review Of The Traffic Stop Showed 'Unintentional Mistakes'

In the review Stewart references, Moab police were said to have made "unintentional mistakes" in their handling of the traffic stop.

Capt. Brandon Ratcliffe, of the Price Police Department, which is located about two hours northwest of Moab, released his 102-page report in January 2022, outlining a review of how officers questioned Petito and Laundrie, and about a potential assault that took place outside of a shop in Moab.

The report recommended both officers be placed on probation, calls for additional training in domestic violence and legal issues so that officers have a better grasp of state laws and statutes, as well as upgraded software.

In the weeks following the release of the bodycam footage detailing the incident, Moab police faced criticism on how they handled it.

In a disclaimer, Ratcliffe says that while he had access to all of the reports and video footage, he would not pretend to have the same perception as the officers who investigated the case, noting there are many 'what-ifs' that have presented themselves as part of the investigation, with the primary one being: "Would Gabby be alive today if this case was handled differently?”

“That is an impossible question to answer despite it being the answer many people want to know,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Nobody knows and nobody will ever know the answer to that question."

After police received a 911 call about a woman being assaulted by a man back on Aug. 12, police spotted Petito's van and pulled the couple over. Petito cried throughout the entire interview, and while officers determined that she had slapped Laundrie, they opted not to charge her in the incident.

Ultimately, officers Pratt and Daniel Robbins, who was still in training, decided to separate the couple for the night, with Petito keeping the van and Laundrie going to a hotel. Pratt said in the report that he was afraid charging Petito would embolden Laundrie.

"So, if he's going to bail her out, is he not going to have more control over her now?" Pratt said.

Ratcliffe's report faulted the police for not getting a statement from the 911 caller who reported seeing the alleged assault.

The final police account did not recount the caller's initial report describing Laundrie as the aggressor, and it labeled the altercation instead a "mental health crisis."

While the police did not characterize the incident on Main Street as domestic violence, the original 911 caller seemed concerned for Petito’s welfare.

In the 2½-minute audiotape, which was released by the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, an unidentified man tells a 911 dispatcher that he is reporting a domestic dispute that he saw on Main Street near a shop called Moonflower and describes how the van they were traveling in just drove off.

"What was he doing?" asks a sheriff's office 911 dispatcher during audio obtained by a records request. Other calls and scanner traffic can be heard in the background. The dispatcher's voice cuts out with silence at the end of his question.

The man, who is not familiar with the area, hurriedly tells the dispatcher, "We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl."

"Then we stopped," the caller says, adding, "They ran up and down the sidewalk, hopped in the car and they drove off."

The caller then gives a description of the van so the police can locate it. The couple was later pulled over after the van was recognized and struck a curb while being followed by an officer.

After the report was released, the City of Moab credited the officers for showing "kindness, respect, and empathy in their handling of this incident."

"As the Moab City Police Department continues its daily mission to serve our community, efforts are underway to provide additional resources and tools to assist them in addressing domestic violence incidents," the statement continued.

Officials said that it has been recommended that the incident report be made more complete and they intend to implement the recommendation, as well as the others cited in the report.

"The City of Moab sends our sincere condolences to the Petito family," the statement read. "Our hearts go out to them as they continue to deal with the tragic loss of their daughter."

After the bodycam footage was initially released, Petito's mother told NBC News that the footage was hard for her to watch.

"I wanted to jump through the screen and rescue her," she said. "I saw a young girl that needed someone to just hug her and keep her safe. I just felt so bad for her. I wish that she reached out to me."

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