FBI warrant alleges Brian Laundrie committed debit card fraud following Petito's death
Fox News correspondent Ashley Strohmier reports from Blue Point, New York.
NORTH PORT, Fla. – A former Utah police chief has come to the defense of the Moab police officers who responded to a mid-August 911 call involving Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie, amid news of a probe into the way the incident was handled, according to a local report.
KSL-TV spoke to former Moab City Police Chief Jim Winder about the Aug. 12 police stop involving Laundrie, 23, and 22-year-old Petito. The couple had embarked on a cross-country trip in mid-June in a white, converted Ford Transit van. They got into a physical altercation during their stay in Moab, Utah on Aug. 12, which led to a police stop for a possible domestic violence case.
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Ultimately, police there decided to separate the quarreling couple for the night. But no charges were filed, and no serious injuries were reported.
The city of Moab said Thursday it will conduct a formal investigation into the handling of the dispute. City officials said they were not aware of any breach of department policies, but intend to make a "thorough, informed evaluation" based on the results of the investigation.
Winder, who served at the helm of the department until 2019, told KSL-TV on Thursday that in the context of the police officers’ response to what they were told could be a domestic dispute, "the officers did an excellent job, from my experience."
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Winder did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request seeking comment on Friday.
"They arrived. Immediately separated these two folks," he told the news station. And throughout their approximately 77-minute response, "They treated them with dignity, respect and compassion."
The former police chief urged people to steer away from jumping to conclusions, and to instead "wait and see," according to the report. He said people should treat the officers "with dignity and respect and allow some process to take place before we vilify or make judgements about their actions."
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"People ascribing particular psychological traits to Mr. Laundrie and Ms. Petito from a video, indicating that had one path been taken versus another… had they arrested someone, no one would have ever died. These are interesting topics of conversation but they’re not real," Winder told the news station.
He reportedly added: "Being on that street is different than being at home in your armchair and reviewing these video tapes."
The couple grew up together on Long Island, New York, but they had moved in recent years to North Port, Florida, where his parents live. Laundrie returned in the van on Sept. 1, but Petito was not with him.
After Petito’s mother reported her missing on Sept. 11 in Suffolk County, N.Y., Laundrie and his parents allegedly would not cooperate with authorities.
Petito’s body was discovered in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on Sunday. A Teton County coroner ruled the death a homicide, but has not yet announced the cause.
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Laundrie had been named a person of interest in the 22-year-old woman's death. On Thursday, the FBI issued an arrest warrant for bank card fraud.
He has been missing since at least last week.
Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report, as well as The Associated Press.
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