If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, call the National Energy Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. FIRST ON FOX: Lawyers for Gabby Petito’s parents announced Monday they will file a $50 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the Moab Police Department, two officers who interacted with her in the days before her death and two former leaders. The family alleges Moab officers Eric Pratt and Daniel Robbins failed to properly handle a 911 call in which a witness claimed she saw Brian Lundry hit Petito and try to steal her phone and run away without her in the center of Moab. Fox News Digital was the first to report the domestic 911 call on August 12, 2021 last year. About two weeks after Moab police arrested the couple at the entrance to Arches National Park, Laundrie is believed to have beaten and strangled Petito to death at a Bridger-Teton National Forest campground in Wyoming where they were traveling as part of a van road trip -cross-country living. “If the officers involved had been trained to apply the correct lethality assessment and to recognize the obvious signs of abuse, it would have been clear to them that Gabby was a victim of intimate partner violence and needed immediate protection,” said Brian Stewart, the family’s attorney. , said in a statement. GABBY PETITO’S MOTHER SLAMS BRIAN LAUNDRIE’S NOTEBOOK CONFESSION He also said an unidentified photo of Petito taken during the incident shows “a close-up of Gabby’s face, where blood is smeared across her cheek and left eye, revealing the brutal nature of Brian’s attack.” It also shows that she was “grabbed by her nose and mouth, possibly restricting her airway.” At a press conference announcing the lawsuit Monday, Petito’s parents appeared remotely via Zoom. Nichole Schmidt, her mother, used a picture of a very young Petito as her avatar for the call. Nichole Schmidt used a picture of a very young Petito in her arms as her avatar during the virtual news update. (Hunter Richards for Fox News Digital) The notice of claim, filed Friday but made public Monday, names Pratt and Robbins, former Moab Police Chief Bret Edge and former Assistant Chief Braydon Palmer. Edge went on leave shortly after the Petito case made national headlines and then briefly returned to the department. He was succeeded in the job by new city manager Jared Garcia in May. Attorneys for Gabby Petito’s family say new photographic evidence shows injuries she suffered before calling Moab 911. (Parker + McConkey) When asked for comment, he said only, “I am no longer with the Moab Police Department.” The text of the complaint focuses specifically on Pratt’s actions during the stop. He had seniority over Robbins, a relatively new officer, and appeared on dashcam footage reluctant to charge Petito with a crime. She had apparently determined that she was the attacker, not Loudry. “Officer Pratt called Assistant Chief Palmer to seek assistance on how to handle the situation,” the filing states. “Chief Palmer directed Officer Pratt to carefully read the assault statute and decide whether the situation satisfied the statute. Officer Pratt Googled the statute. After reading only the first half of the statute, Officer Pratt decided—incorrectly— that Utah law recognizes assault only if the assailant intended to cause bodily harm.” This dash cam video provided by the Moab Police Department shows Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito talking to an officer after police pulled over the van she was traveling in with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, near the entrance to Arches National Park on August 12. 2021. (The Moab Police Department via AP) An independent investigation into Moab’s response to the call “concluded that the officers made several mistakes and could not rule out that Gabi’s killing could have been prevented if the officers had handled the situation properly,” the filing states. The Moab Police Department came under fire after a pair of body camera videos surfaced, from officers Pratt and Robbins, showing its response to the Petito-Laundrie standoff, in which police made no arrests or citations despite Utah statute requiring issuing one for domestic violence. incidents. After interviewing Petito and Laundrie, as well as another witness, officers ruled out domestic violence and deemed the incident a “mental health break.” Petito appeared visibly agitated throughout the encounter and told officers that Lundry had grabbed her face while making gestures toward her neck. But officers appeared to frame her as the aggressor – and appeared reluctant to arrest the petite, distressed woman at the time. But they also didn’t seem to even see Laundrie as a possible suspect, despite the fact that the 911 caller claimed he was aggressive. Price, Utah, police Capt. Brandon Ratcliffe conducted the review and made a number of recommendations, including placing Pratt and Robbins on probation and implementing increased training programs. Moab has not provided Fox News Digital with any documents, comments or confirmation that any of these recommendations had been followed. A city spokesman declined to comment Monday, citing a policy regarding pending litigation. The department’s website, however, shows Moab has added several officers in the last year and is hiring a new detective to be the department’s domestic violence specialist. Moab Mayor Joette Langianese, who was elected months after the incident, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Police body camera footage in Moab, Utah, on Aug. 12, 2021, shows the couple following a domestic violence call. (Moab PD) Petito’s parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, and her adoptive parents, Tara Petito and Jim Schmidt, retained the Utah law firm Parker and McConkie to handle the case. The firm in 2020 successfully represented the family of Lauren McCluskey, a 21-year-old University of Utah student who repeatedly sought help from campus police before she was shot by a 37-year-old man outside her dorm room in 2018. That case resulted in a settlement of 13 .5 million dollars with the school. “The purpose of this lawsuit is just one part of the family’s larger effort to raise awareness and education, to protect victims of domestic violence, and to ensure that our government institutions are held accountable and given the resources and training they need to do their job,” Stewart said at a news conference Monday. Attorneys for the Petito and Schmidt families announced a notice of claim against Moab police at a news briefing in Salt Lake City on Monday, Aug. 8. Left to right, Brad Park, Steven Jensen, Brian Stewart, Jim McConkie. (Hunter Richards for Fox News Digital) “We believe these officers were negligent and their negligence contributed to Gabby’s death,” Stewart told reporters, later adding, “They did not understand the law and did not properly apply the law to Gabby’s situation.” The new filing also reveals that Petito called her parents during the stop and they wanted her to fly home and leave the Laundrie. They even offered to pay for a ride to Salt Lake City and a flight home, but upon hearing that the police were involved, “they accepted Gabby’s assurances that she would continue her journey,” the document states. BRIAN LAUNDRIE FOUND: PARENTS MAY HAVE BEEN FORCED TO REVEAL STILL THEMSELVES Steve Bertolino, an attorney for Laundrie’s parents, said their son had not told them about the Moab incident and they only learned about it when Fox News Digital uncovered the Moab 911 call last September. Gabby Petito in an undated photo. (North Port Police) GABBY PETITO HOMICIDE: TIMELINE OF EXPAPEARANCE WITH BRIAN LAUNDRIE “I don’t know that they did it all wrong,” he said of the officers. “Everyone assumes it was a judgment call. People don’t deserve to be arrested for fighting with someone they love.” Laundrie later confessed to the killing in a handwritten note found near his remains at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, where the FBI said he killed himself after sneaking out from under the noses of North Port, Florida, police. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP After their daughter’s death, Petito’s parents and adoptive parents created a non-profit organization in her honor, the Gabby Petito Foundation, to raise awareness about domestic violence and missing persons. “I think Gabby’s story has touched a lot of people and is saving lives,” Petito’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, said in a statement. “I get people texting me all the time that they were inspired by her to get out of a relationship.” The Petito and Schmidt families are also suing Laundrie’s parents in two separate cases in Florida. “All we can hope for is that Gabby’s legacy will be a positive one,” Jim Schmidt said during the news briefing. “That people will see her and recognize her and possibly compare what they’re going through in their lives and make a positive change.” The family urges anyone who finds themselves trapped in an abusive relationship to speak up and get help. “Please reach out if you can,” Nichole Schmidt said during the briefing, wiping tears from her eyes. “Reach out to someone.” “There are people who care,” added Petito’s father, Joseph Petito. “People need to know there are people out there who will do what they can to help.” If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, call the National Energy Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @mikerreports
