Police, Activist Respond To Criticism Of Bystanders In Abduction Case
Jun 27, 2021, 9:58 PM | Updated: Jul 5, 2023, 1:03 pm
SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah – After a domestic violence situation was caught on surveillance video at a South Salt Lake gas station, police said it’s okay that bystanders didn’t jump in to help the victim.
The incident happened at 10:30 p.m. Friday at a mini-mart, located at 310 East and 3300 South.
Surveillance video shows four cars pumping gas and at least three people outside, all while a woman gets thrown over a man’s shoulder and is carried away, screaming “help me.”
Danielle Croyle, public information officer with the South Salt Lake Police Department, said the victim in the video is a 35-year-old woman, trying to get away from the suspect, 22-year-old Carl Gravitt.
“There is an age gap, but they were in a relationship,” said Croyle. “She was fearful because this has happened to her before.”
Originally, police suspected the victim might be a child.
“We had a shoe that was recovered on scene that was a size three, and actually, it was a kid’s-style shoe,” said Croyle. “On top of that, she had a small stature and petite frame.”
Croyle said they guessed on her age when they issued an Amber Alert, originally reporting she was 16, just to get the information out about the vehicle they were looking for.
Surveillance video shows Gravitt chasing the victim down, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her back to an SUV, all while she’s kicking and screaming for help.
On the police department’s Facebook page, there were nearly 3,000 comments on the video, many saying things like they’re “ashamed of everyone that didn’t help,” “appalled at the lack of help” and “disgusted by everyone around.”
Jenn Oxborrow, a licensed clinical social worker, said we don’t know exactly what the circumstances were and so it’s important not to judge.
“It’s difficult for bystanders to know what to do when they see this. We’re sort of conditioned to mind our own business,” said Oxborrow. “Sometimes, people freeze. Sometimes, people have their own lived experience, and so it triggers something in them, and you would think you would react one way, but this whole set of other reactions can come with that.”
Police said the same thing. The most important thing a bystander can do, Croyle said, is call the police, and that’s exactly what happened. One of those people did call 911, and officers were on scene within a couple of minutes.
“What I do think this has done is it’s 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 said they got a lot of tips about the suspect and the vehicle after that Amber Alert and video went out. Those tips led them to West Valley City, where both people were found in that SUV.
Gravitt was taken into custody peacefully.
If you or someone you know needs help getting out of an abusive situation, help is available 24-hours a day at the statewide number 1-800-897-LINK (5465).
