Maui Police Chief John Pelletier (center) stands with the department's leadership team during a Wednesday news conference. To the chief’s right is his wife, Cristy Pelletier. Eli Pace/The Maui News

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier might not get the apology he’s looking for, but it appears as if he has his vindication.

With the Maui Police Department’s leadership team standing beside him off-duty in plain clothes, Pelletier’s attorney, Keola Whittaker, opened a Wednesday news conference by announcing the federal lawsuit against rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs — in which Pelletier was named as a co-defendant — has been dismissed.

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys representing Ashley Parham in October 2024. The suit was amended in March to add two unnamed plaintiffs and, in addition to Pelletier, named former NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and comedian Druski as co-defendants, among others.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit on Tuesday, citing the plaintiffs’ failure to meet multiple deadlines to serve the defendants. The plaintiffs’ attorneys also withdrew from the case, and the plaintiffs failed to meet court-ordered deadlines to obtain new representation.

Whittaker said the accusations in the suit were so obviously false that no attorney on Maui would even touch it, and that’s why Pelletier was never served.

“This is over and the truth has prevailed,” Whittaker said. “Nine months ago, my client was named in a federal lawsuit containing allegations that are so outrageous, so disconnected from reality that we knew immediately these were complete fabrications.”

Pelletier was also joined by his wife, Cristy, at the news conference.

“To those who sensationalized or called for action on a story that was clearly a blatant lie, you hurt my family,” Pelletier said, raising his voice. “You hurt my kids — my kids. You hurt the department. You hurt the policing profession, and you hurt this community. The pain cannot be undone, and it was all for nothing.”

In March, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen had recommended that Pelletier take a paid leave of absence pending the outcome of the civil lawsuit. Pelletier declined and the Maui Police Commission sided with the chief after a public hearing at the mayor’s request.

Following the commissioners’ decision, Bissen, who previously served as a prosecutor and judge before becoming mayor, doubled-down on his recommendation.

“Despite attempts to frame this as a personal dispute between the chief and the mayor, the recommendation was a standard procedural step, aligned with established precedent within this administration and always taken with the community’s best interest in mind,” Bissen said in one of the statements he issued last March.

However, the police chief said he had already produced bank statements, phone records, work logs and other evidence showing he was hundreds of miles away from where the alleged crimes occurred.

Additionally, a photo included in the lawsuit that purported to show Pelletier was actually a picture of an entirely different person.

“For those who threw out allegations or promoted a false narrative — to those who hurt my family — you should be ashamed of yourselves and your actions,” Pelletier said. “Not only do you owe a long overdue apology to my family, it should be louder and more vocal than the false narrative you helped spin.”

Whittaker said Pelletier is considering taking action against the plaintiffs and their attorneys as he and his client seek more information why the chief was named in the civil lawsuit.

Responding to questions from the media Wednesday, Pelletier said that at 4 p.m. March 10 Bissen called him into the mayor’s office without giving him the reason beforehand.

“He told me he was going to call on the police commission to request that I be suspended,” Pelletier said. “I pleaded with him not to do it.”

The police chief said he asked the mayor for one hour to disprove the allegations, which the chief said he had only learned about earlier that day.

But according to Pelletier, Bissen told him no.

“I was not even afforded 60 minutes,” Pelletier said. “I then repeated the question because I couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘Let me get this straight. You won’t give me 60 minutes?’ He said, no. I said, ‘When this is all done and the police commission doesn’t take the action that you want and it’s proven to be false, are you going to publicly apologize? He said. Quote. ‘I am the mayor. I apologize to no one.’ End quote.”

Asked what his message for Mayor Bissen was now, Pelletier looked toward his wife.

“This is Cristy Pelletier. She’s been married to me for 20 years. I have two teenage children,” the police chief said. “You hurt them. You did that knowing, knowing that days after that there was evidence proving that I was innocent of this, and you still refused to apologize or withdraw your complaint.”

In a statement issued Wednesday, Bissen applauded the lawsuit’s dismissal and said the mayor’s office and MPD are committed to working together.

“I am grateful that the civil lawsuit against Police Chief John Pelletier was dismissed and I am confident that the judicial process functioned as it should,” Bissen said. “I extend my aloha and compassion to Chief Pelletier and his ‘ohana, who have endured a prolonged and difficult process. My administration and the Maui Police Department remain united in our commitment to working together in the best interest of our community.”

Pelletier also said Maui police are committed to working well professionally with the mayor’s office and other county departments just as they have been for the last nine months and before that.