Diogenes
Nemo me impune lacessit
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier has been linked to the Sean "Diddy" Combs case through a civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. On March 7, 2025, an amended complaint in the case of Ashley Parham v. Sean Combs (Case No. 3:24-cv-07191-RFL) named Pelletier as one of several new defendants.
The lawsuit, originally filed on October 15, 2024, accuses Pelletier of acting as a co-conspirator in what it terms the "Diddy Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Enterprise."
Specifically, it alleges that in 2018, while Pelletier was a captain with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, he posed as a Contra Costa County, California, sheriff’s deputy to deter plaintiff Ashley Parham from reporting an alleged gang rape by Combs and others.
The suit claims he offered her no assistance and instructed her to go home after she escaped to a neighbor’s house, and further alleges he handed the neighbor an envelope believed to contain cash.
Additionally, two unnamed plaintiffs (Jane and John Doe) assert that Pelletier kidnapped them at gunpoint in Las Vegas, transported them to California, and restrained them, forcing them to witness Parham’s assault.
Pelletier called the claims "completely false" and noted he had not been formally served with legal papers. The department’s spokesperson, Alana Pico, echoed this, stating that Pelletier "has no connections whatsoever" to individuals named in the lawsuit and that the accusations are "entirely unfounded."
He cited his 2018 recognition by the Rape Crisis Center in Las Vegas for his work on sexual assault prevention as evidence of his character.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen responded by requesting the Maui Police Commission place Pelletier on administrative leave pending investigation, citing the seriousness of the unproven allegations and the need to maintain public trust.
Pelletier rebuffed this, calling it "premature and unjust" and emphasizing his commitment to due process and his role as chief. The commission is set to discuss the matter on March 19, 2025.
John Pelletier was also the incident commander during the 2017 Las Vegas shooting massacre.
At that time, he was a captain with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and oversaw the response to the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on October 1, 2017, which resulted in 58 deaths (later adjusted to 60 with additional related deaths) and hundreds injured.
As incident commander, he was the top decision-maker, coordinating the response to what remains the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Pelletier later became the Maui Police Chief in December 2021, after 22 years with the Las Vegas police.
His role in Las Vegas has been widely documented, including in his own statements during his Maui Police Commission interview, where he cited it as his greatest professional achievement, and in news reports following the 2023 Maui wildfires, where he referenced his experience with victim identification from that event.
@Grok