Current News

/

ArcaMax

Lawsuit against Diddy says Hawaii police chief posed as a California sheriff in rape cover-up

Julia Marnin, The Charlotte Observer on

Published in News & Features

An amended lawsuit against musician Sean Combs, aka “Diddy,” names a Hawaii police chief as a co-conspirator, saying he helped facilitate the music producer’s “predatory sexual behavior” and covered up a woman’s rape in 2018.

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier is one of several new defendants added to the lawsuit through the amended complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on March 7.

Pelletier and the other defendants took part in what the lawsuit calls and repeatedly refers to as the “Diddy Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Enterprise.”

Now, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen is calling for an investigation over the lawsuit’s accusations made against the police chief, KHON-TV reported.

He wants Pelletier to be put on administrative leave in the meantime, according to the TV station.

“While the allegations in the amended complaint remain unproven, they are serious in nature…,” Bissen wrote in a letter to the Maui Police Department, according to Island News.

“Given the gravity of the allegations, I recommend that the Maui Police Commission place Chief Pelletier on administrative leave pending further investigation,” the letter said in part.

In a statement provided to McClatchy News on March 11, Pelletier commented on the mayor’s request and denied the accusations.

“Let me be clear: the allegations made against me are completely false, and I have not been formally served with any legal paperwork,” Pelletier said.

“Throughout my career, I have served with integrity and dedication, and I am deeply disappointed by this request, which I believe to be both premature and unjust,” Pelletier added. “I understand the importance of transparency and accountability in law enforcement, and I fully intend to cooperate with any necessary processes to ensure the truth is known.”

The Maui mayor’s office didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment March 11.

The lawsuit filed by a woman and two additional plaintiffs, John and Jane Doe, says she was “violently gang raped” by Combs and others at a home in Orinda, in Contra Costa County, California, on March 23, 2018.

At the time, Pelletier was working for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in Nevada. He became the police chief for Maui, Hawaii, in 2021.

Following the alleged rape, Combs tried to bribe the woman into saying the assault was consensual and offered her money, according to the complaint.

The woman ultimately escaped the home and fled to a neighbor’s house, the complaint says. The neighbor told her they called the police, according to the filing.

Then, a man who she thought was a sheriff from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office arrived, the complaint says.

It was actually Pelletier, who was posing as the sheriff, according to the complaint.

“Plaintiff told defendant Pelletier, believing he was a sheriff from local police, she had been violently gang raped by defendant Diddy and others and that she did not have her clothes, phone, purse, car keys or cell phone,” the complaint says.

Pelletier is accused of disregarding the woman’s report.

Instead, according to the complaint, he told her that the sheriff’s office received multiple noise complaints before the neighbor called police and then told her “to find a way to get home.”

 

The complaint says Pelletier gave an envelope potentially containing cash to the neighbor, who left the room and “quickly returned empty-handed.”

The lawsuit says the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office never properly investigated the woman’s police report.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ inquiry and request for comment on Tuesday.

The amended complaint makes further accusations against Pelletier involving plaintiffs John and Jane Doe, a mother and son who said they witnessed the gang rape, according to the filing.

Combs is facing federal charges, including sex trafficking, in a criminal case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

His legal team, which is representing him in that case, denounced the amended lawsuit in a statement provided to McClatchy News on Tuesday.

“Mr. Combs was nowhere near Orinda, California on the day (the woman) claims she was assaulted there, and the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department has already confirmed (her) claims were determined to be unfounded following a thorough investigation,” his legal team said.

The woman’s lawsuit was filed Oct. 15 and didn’t initially include Pelletier as a defendant.

In addition to Pelletier, the amended complaint now names NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who played for the Miami Dolphins in 2024; Drew Desbordes, a comedian known as Druski; and several others as defendants.

Beckham and Druski, who are both accused of raping the woman with Diddy, have denied the lawsuit’s claims, USA Today reported.

In its statement on the lawsuit, Combs’ legal team said the plaintiff has created an “even wilder narrative” alleging a “conspiracy between law enforcement, local civilians, and media industry players.”

Pelletier said in his statement that he believes “no one should face professional consequences based on unsubstantiated claims.”

He remains committed as Maui’s police chief, he said.

The amended lawsuit came a day after a superseding indictment was returned against Combs in his criminal case on March 6, court records show.

A pretrial conference for Combs’ criminal case is scheduled for Friday.

The lawsuit is one of several brought against Combs after his ex-girlfriend, music artist Cassie, sued him in November 2023, saying he repeatedly raped and physically abused her, The New York Times reported.

To report potential trafficking situations, you can contact the national hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or chat with the online hotline.

_______


©2025 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus