Police and activist respond to criticism from passers-by in kidnapping case

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SOUTH SALT LAKE After a domestic violence situation was caught on surveillance video at a South Salt Lake gas station, police said they agreed that passers-by did not rush to help the victim.

The incident happened at 10:30 p.m. on Friday in a mini-market, located at 310 East and 3300 South.

Surveillance video shows four cars pumping gasoline and at least three people outside, as a woman is thrown over a man’s shoulder and swept away screaming help me.

Danielle Croyle, an information officer with the South Salt Lake Police Department, said the victim in the video was a 35-year-old woman, trying to get away from the suspect, Carl Gravitt, 22.

There is an age gap, but they were a couple, Croyle said. She was scared because it had happened to her before.

Originally, the police suspected that the victim might be a child.

We had a salvaged shoe that was a size three, and it was actually a kid style shoe, Croyle said. On top of that, she had a petite stature and a petite figure.

Croyle said they guessed her age when they issued an Amber Alert, originally stating she was 16, just to get information on the vehicle they were looking for.

Surveillance video shows Gravitt chasing the victim, throwing him over his shoulder and returning him to an SUV, while kicking and screaming for help.

On the Police Department’s Facebook page, there were nearly 3,000 comments on the video, many saying things as if they were ashamed of everyone who didn’t help, dismayed at the lack of help and disgusted. by everybody.

Jenn Oxborrow, a licensed clinical social worker, said we don’t know exactly what the circumstances were, so it’s important not to judge.

It is difficult for passers-by to know what to do when they see this. We were sort of conditioned to mind our own business, Oxborrow said. Sometimes people freeze. Sometimes people have their own lived experience, and so it triggers something in them, and you’d think you’d react in a way, but that whole set of other reactions can come with that.

The police said the same. The most important thing a bystander can do, Croyle said, is call the police, and that’s exactly what happened. One of these people called 911 and the police were on the scene within minutes.

What I think it did was it created a lot of conversations. A lot of people have thought and talked about this to say: What would I do? What would I do if I was in this situation? ‘ said Croyle.

Police say they received extensive advice about the suspect and the vehicle after the Amber alert and video came out. This advice led them to West Valley City, where the two were found in this SUV.

Gravitt was taken into police custody peacefully.

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