Gabby Petito tells cop fiancé Brian Laundrie grabbed her face in new bodycam footage: LIVE UPDATES
Gabby Petito told a Utah police officer that Brian Laundrie grabbed her face during an argument on Aug. 12, according to newly released bodycam video from a second Moab officer who arrived at the scene – but she quickly backtracked and claimed she struck first.
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Cassie Laundrie, 31, has laid low following the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito, who would have been her future sister-in-law, and during the manhunt for her younger brother, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, who is now a fugitive wanted for alleged debit card fraud and a person of interest in Petito's death.
New attention shifted to Cassie on Friday after her family's attorney, Steven Bertolino, revealed that the elder sibling saw Brian at a campground on Sept. 6 with their parents, as well as on Sept. 1, when Brian returned home to North Port without Gabby.
"Law enforcement agencies are well aware of these dates," Bertolino told Fox News on Friday. "Any prior communication by Cassie that does not reflect these dates is simply a difference of relating an answer to a question misinterpreted by Cassie or poorly posed by the inquirer."
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It's unclear as to when Brian Laundrie’'s sister, Cassandra Laundrie, last saw her fugitive brother wanted on debit card fraud charges and named as a person of interest in the death of Gabby Petito.
Cassandra Laundrie told ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview published on Sept. 17 that the last time she spoke to her brother was when he returned home to Florida without Petito. That date, according to the family, was on September 1. But the Laundrie family's attorney, Steven Bertolino, says the last time Cassandra Laundrie saw Brian was five days later, on September 6.
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Dunkin' delivery to the Laundrie family home.
Moab Police Officer Eric Pratt, in bodycam footage released by investigators, is seen speaking to Brian Laundrie on Aug. 12. (Moab City Police Department)
Utah’s domestic violence laws and the actions of the Moab Police Department are facing fresh scrutiny Friday as newly obtained bodycam footage is revealing more about the violent fight between Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie in Utah on Aug. 12.
A nearly hourlong video obtained by Fox News on Thursday night shows Gabby Petito telling Moab Police Officer Eric Pratt that Laundrie hit her before she seemingly backtracked and claimed she struck first.
The response ended without an arrest, and Laundrie stayed at a hotel that night, according to a police report. The couple continued on their van trip until Petito was found dead in Wyoming on Sept. 19, while Laundrie – a person of interest in her homicide and subject of a federal arrest warrant alleging debit card fraud – remains on the run.
Brett Tolman, a former U.S. attorney for Utah – and other critics on social media -- are questioning whether police should have done more while responding to the incident on Aug. 12.
"Now they have an objective eyewitness, dispatch and Gabby herself saying that Brian hit her," Tolman told Fox News' Michael Ruiz after the new bodycam footage surfaced. "Why they didn’t take him into custody is mind-boggling. I understand that hindsight is 20/20, but this is an absolute failure to properly assess the moment and make a proper decision based upon the facts and the law."
Angelo Zappacosta, the North Port resident who was arrested and charged with battery Wednesday after confronting a protester who allegedly trespassed on his property near Brian Laundrie's home, told Fox News Jonathan Serrie on Friday “it's been two weeks of just a circus and nonsense” in the neighborhood.
“You know with all the people on that road I'm sure people notice there's no porta potties. There's plenty of times I've seen people urinating on the side of the road, it's been very crazy in our neighborhood,” he said. “So, hopefully soon we get justice for Gabby and this can be put behind us in our neighborhood.”
Former FBI official Bryanna Fox on Friday weighed in on an object that FBI agents took from the North Port, Florida, home of Chris and Roberta Laundrie, the parents of fugitive Brian Laundrie.
Two agents carried a large paper bag to the front door of the Laundries' house on Friday afternoon, left the house for a couple minutes to enter a camper in their driveway, went back inside and left the house carrying what appeared to be a cup and a camouflage bag resembling a cooler.
"I have been on many FBI search warrants, and can’t recall ever using a small plastic container like that," Fox, who is also an associate professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida, told Fox News Digital. "I can say that it would not be to hold fibers, hairs, etc. Those types of evidence go in much smaller dry paper envelopes."
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Judge Jeanine Pirro, in an opinion column, writes that "domestic violence laws were created to protect all domestic violence victims regardless of the victim's address or location.
"Any suggestion that because Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie were not from Utah the police were precluded from making an arrest or getting involved is not only incorrect, it is dangerous. In fact, it’s contrary to Utah law," she added.
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(Fox News/Audrey Conklin)
A woman in North Port placed a poster of Gabby Petito near the front lawn of Brian Laundrie’s home on Friday.
Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie as seen in bodycam footage released by the Moab City Police Department in Utah. (Moab City Police Department)
Utah’s domestic violence laws are in the spotlight as newly-obtained bodycam footage details the violent fight between Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie in Moab on Aug. 12.
In Utah, the "primary duty of law enforcement officers responding to a domestic violence call is to protect the victim and enforce the law," its state legislature says.
"When a peace officer responds to a domestic violence call and has probable cause to believe that an act of domestic violence has been committed, the peace officer shall arrest without a warrant or shall issue a citation to any person that the peace officer has probable cause to believe has committed an act of domestic violence," it continues.
The law also says that "if a law enforcement officer receives complaints of domestic violence from two or more opposing persons, the officer shall evaluate each complaint separately to determine who the predominant aggressor was. If the officer determines that one person was the predominant physical aggressor, the officer need not arrest the other person alleged to have committed domestic violence."
An FBI-led team of investigators discovered Gabby Petito's body on Sept. 19 at a campsite near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
The 22-year-old's family had reported her missing eight days prior -- after a months long cross-country road trip.
Follow the timeline of Petito's travels across the country in the months before a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.
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A TikTok user who says he looks like Brian Laundrie has gotten more than a million views posting about what his experience he been like in the past few weeks.
The user, who goes by the handle @notbrianlaundrie, wrote on his profile "Just trying to prove that I’m #NotBrianLaundrie. Happy to answer any questions."
“I think most people that think I’m him outside of bounty hunters, which I have not encountered thankfully, they just kinda, they just like stare at me for a minute," he said in a video that had 1.9 million views as of Thursday night. "I just have like a normal beard so people don’t normally stare at me that much. They just kind of stare at me with their mouth agape and I quickly try to go away.”
He said he's been avoiding bars recently because people tend to bother him there.
Former FBI Agent Maureen O'Connell said Thursday on "Your World" she believes Brian Laundrie, the former fiancé of Gabby Petito, will be found alive.
"It's the biggest mystery," host Neil Cavuto said. "Where is this guy?"
"This whole case is filled with one wild goose chase after another," O'Connell said.
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