Brian Laundrie was ‘mental and emotional bully’ to Gabby Petito: cop

A Utah cop who did nothing after responding to a 911 call about an abusive Brian Laundrie — weeks before Gabby Petito was fatally beaten — later admitted Laundrie seemed like a threat and “mental and emotional bully,” court papers claim.

Moab City Police Officer Eric Pratt was among respondents to an Aug. 12, 2021, domestic incident call from a witness who saw Laundrie hitting Petito, 22.

Pratt and Officer Daniel Robbins separated the couple for the night, but treated Petito – who’d taken a selfie showing her bloody face – like an offender rather than a victim, Fox News reported, citing an amended lawsuit by Petito’s parents.

Only when pressed during an investigation by Price, Utah, Police Captain Brandon Ratcliffe did Price admit seeing red flags in Laundrie’s behavior, the court papers from Wednesday said.

Laundrie “clearly has influence over [Petito’s] mentality that looked unsavory to me … he’s mentally messing with her,” Pratt said, according to excerpts from Ratcliffe’s interview transcripts included in the court papers.

“He’s just a weird, not healthy dude, and that was clear,” Pratt said.

“I thought he was an emotional threat to her,” Pratt said. “I thought he was a mental threat to her.”

He “seemed like a mental and emotional bully,” the cop said.

Yet despite the warning signs, Pratt justified not arresting Laundrie or taking further steps, saying there’s no law against “being a s***ty boyfriend and gaslighting and taking advantage of people mentally and emotionally for your own reasons,” the filing alleges.

Petito’s parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt filed suit against the Moab City Police Department, alleging that had the cops properly responded, their daughter might be alive today.

The pair are also suing Laundrie’s parents in Florida, alleging they withheld information about their daughter’s slaying.

Petito – a travel influencer from Long Island – was killed on Aug. 28, 2021, after she and Laundrie had been driving around the country in a van.

After a weeks-long manhunt, Petito’s remains were found in September. Laundrie fatally shot himself and left behind a handwritten note confessing to Petito’s slaying.

“The city of Moab doesn’t comment on matters involving pending or ongoing litigation,” a spokesperson for the city said.