US News

Gabby Petito told cops Brian Laundrie assaulted her, new bodycam video shows

Gabby Petito told a Utah cop that boyfriend Brian Laundrie assaulted her during their Aug. 12 domestic dispute, according to bodycam video obtained by Fox News on Thursday.

The attack allegedly took place shortly before the couple was stopped by police at the entrance of Arches National Park. A 911 caller told police he saw a man slapping a woman outside an organic grocery store in Moab.

Laundrie, who was driving Petito’s white 2012 Ford Transit, slammed into the curb when cops flashed their lights. He later told them that Petito tugged the steering wheel.

“Did he hit you though?” an officer asked Petito, according to Fox News, which obtained a second bodycam video from cops at the scene.

“I guess. I guess, yea,” a crying Petito reportedly continued. “But I hit him first.”

“Where did he hit you?” the officer replied, according to the outlet. “Don’t worry, just be honest.”

Main: Police bodycam footage shows Gabby Petito speaking with police as they responded to an altercation between Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie in Utah.
Main: Police bodycam footage shows Gabby Petito speaking with police as they responded to an altercation between Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie in Utah.Moab City Police Department; Ins

“He didn’t like hit me in the face,” Petito reportedly told the officer, about two weeks before she was last seen alive. “He didn’t like punch me in the face or anything.”

“Did he slap your face, or what?” the officer asked, according to Fox.

Police bodycam footage shows Gabby Petito speaking with police as they responded to an altercation between Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie in Utah on August 12, 2021.
A distressed Gabby Petito told police that Brian Laundrie cut her “with his nail”. Moab City Police Department

“Well he like, grabbed me with his nail, and I guess that’s why it looks, I definitely have a cut right here,” she reportedly said, rubbing her cheek. “I can feel it, when I touch it, it burns.”

“He got really frustrated with me, and he locked me out of the car and told me to go take a breather, but I didn’t want to take a breather. And I wanted to get going. We’re out of water.”

The new video reportedly showed the witness clarify that he did not see Laundrie “strike the female” when questioned by cops.

An undated Instagram photo of Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito's boyfriend.
Brian Laundrie allegedly locked Gabby Petito out of the car during their fight, according to police footage. Instagram

“I wouldn’t say that,” the witness said, according to the article. “I think I saw maybe a push or a shove, but not a full-on punch to a face or anything.”

“You did see her slapping him though it sounds like,” the officer reportedly asked.

“Yes,” the witness replied.

Laundrie, 23 has been on the lam for more than two weeks, as police continue to investigate the homicide death of Petitio, 22, whose body was found in a Wyoming park on Sept. 19.

Moab City Police Department Chief Bret Edge took a leave of absence earlier this week as internal investigators look into whether or not the cops mishandled the situation by letting the couple drive off without pressing charges.

The two local officers were later joined by two US Park Rangers at the traffic stop, footage of which led former “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh to call Petito a victim of “classic domestic abuse.”

Bodycam footage from the Rangers’ remained under wraps.