Gabby Petito told police on August 12 that Brian Laundrie hit her, according to newly released bodycam video.
Gabby Petito told police on August 12 that Brian Laundrie hit her, according to newly released bodycam video.
Gabby Petito told a Utah police officer on August 12 that her boyfriend Brian Laudrie had hit her, according to newly released bodycam footage from a second officer who arrived at the scene.
Laundrie told police he "didn't have time" to defend himself against the allegations he had struck his fiance.
Instead, he told the officer "I pushed her away".
"She gets really worked up, and when she does she swings and she had her cell phone in her hand. So I was just trying to push her away."
The new revelation is being described as another red flag missed by authorities.
The August 12 call – first reported by Fox News earlier this month – illustrated what experts have flagged as a potentially abusive relationship between Petito and Laundrie.
Fox News previously obtained a different officer's bodycam video, but it appears that the police did separate interviews.
"I guess," she replies – although she still appeared to downplay the incident to the second officer and tried to assume blame herself.
"I guess, yeah," Petito continued, with tears in her eyes. "But I hit him first."
"Where did he hit you?" the officer asked. "Don't worry, just be honest."
Gabby Petito told police on August 12 that Brian Laundrie hit her, according to newly released bodycam video.
She then backtracked and said he grabbed her "with his nail" before claiming to be the aggressor herself.
"He didn't like hit me in the face," she said. "He didn't like punch me in the face or anything."
"Did he slap your face, or what?" the officer asked.
"Well he like, grabbed me with his nail, and I guess that's why it looks, I definitely have a cut right here," she said, rubbing her cheek. "I can feel it, when I touch it it burns."
The second video, obtained by Fox News, reveals more details of the encounter.
It occurred just weeks before Petito was last seen alive.
"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," Petito says in the new video. "And I wanted to get going. We're out of water."
The officer asked Petito if she'd been hit in the face and arm.
"Is there something on your cheek here?" he says. "Did you get hit on the face?"
"I'm not sure," Petito said, telling the officer she was just trying to get into the car.
The witness had also told police Laundrie looked like he was trying to steal Petito's phone and that she scrambled into the car, crawling over him through the driver side door after it seemed like he might drive away without her.
Petito told a Utah police officer that Laundrie hit her on August 12.
At another point in the video, the officer asked a witness to clarify what he saw.
"Did you ever see the male strike the female?" he asked.
"I wouldn't say that," the witness replied. "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 said.
"Yes," the witness replied.
Gabby Petito admitted to police that Brian Laundrie hit her on August 12, according to newly released bodycam video.
Later in the video, an officer told Laundrie that Petito hadn't admitted he struck her.
Laundrie returned to Florida alone on September 1 – driving her van. A few days later, he bought a new cellphone, according to his lawyer, Steve Bertolino.
Then he left it behind with his wallet and vanished. The FBI is now leading a manhunt for the 23-year-old, who is wanted on debit-card fraud charges and has been named a person of interest in Petito's homicide.
