Missing Long Island woman Gabby Petito and her boyfriend scuffled near a Utah national park last month, telling police that tension between the two “had been building over the last few days,” according to police records.
Petito also told cops she feared that her beau, Brian Laundrie, was going to drive off and leave her behind “without a ride.”
According to police, they considered domestic violence charges against Petito, who “was struggling with her mental health” and allegedly scratched Laundrie.
But police determined that the situation did not rise to a criminal case “as much as that of a mental health crisis” and told the feuding couple to spend the night apart.
“Both the male and the female reported they are in love and engaged to be married and desperately didn’t wish to see anyone charged with a crime,” said the report, obtained by The Post. “There were no significant injuries reported and both agreed that Gabbie [sic] suffers from serious anxiety, etc.”
Petito, 22, and Laundrie, 23, told cops in Moab, Utah, during the Aug. 12 incident that they had been traveling together for four or five months and that the “emotional strain between them” had led to an “increased number of arguments,” the report said.
Police initially responded to a report of a domestic disturbance around 4:30 p.m. near the Moonflower Community Cooperative in Moab, and later pulled over the 2012 Ford Transit van the two were traveling in.
“I approached the vehicle and saw the only occupants being Gabrielle and Brian,” Police Officer Daniel Scott Robbins wrote. “Gabrielle, who was in the passenger east, was crying uncontrollably.
“At no point in my investigation did Gabrielle stop crying, breathing heavily, or compose a sentence without needing to wipe away tears, wipe her nose, or rub her knees with her hands,” the report said.
Petito and Laundrie told cops they both suffered from an undisclosed disorder, with Laundrie telling the officer “neither he nor Gabrielle take medication.”
The specific disorder was redacted from the police report.
But Petito told the officer that due to the disorder, “combined with little arguments she and Brian had been having that day, she was struggling with her mental health, which led to the incident that was reported to law enforcement.”
According to the report, the couple got into an argument near a local convenience store “over a phone,” and Petito attempted to slap Laundrie, who locked her out of the van “to create distance” between them.
“Brian said Gabrielle, thinking he was going to leave her in Moab without a ride, went to slap him,” the report said. “As Gabrielle started to swing, Brian pushed her away to avoided the slap. As a result Gabrielle, off-balance, but still caught Brian’s face with some fingers causing minor visible scratches.”
But neither of the two wanted to press charges, and police said they “then determined the most appropriate course of action would be to help separate the parties for the night so they could reset their mental states without interference from one another.”
The officers found a hotel room for Laundrie for the night and Petito remained in the van.
The 22-year-old Long Island native was last heard from late last month and reported missing by her mother on Sept. 11.
Laundrie returned home with the van on Sept. 1 without Petito and has since refused to cooperate with authorities.
Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt — who has twice pleaded with Laundrie to reveal what happened — reported her missing on Saturday, and police seized the van.
Schmidt and the family’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Post on Wednesday.
