Maui police chief fights paid leave with accusation against mayor
WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Two days after he was placed on leave, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier is fighting back with a major accusation against Maui Mayor Richard Bissen.
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The Maui Police Commission voted 6-0 Wednesday to place Pelletier on paid administrative leave in connection with its independent investigation into the now-dissolved Criminal Intelligence Unit.
The action came after Lt. Michael Vaituulala, who led the unit, was arrested by the FBI and accused of accepting regular cash payments from drug traffickers, illegal chicken fighters, and illegal fireworks distributors.
Vaituulala was a personal friend of the chief and reported to his office. Pelletier dissolved the unit and said he never suspected corruption.
At a news conference Friday afternoon with his attorney, Eric Seitz, Pelletier made a bombshell claim of his own: that Bissen had him sidelined because Bissen has been under criminal investigation since August.
“I will tell you, it’s a felonious crime and the mayor is the suspect,” Pelletier said. He refused to provide any more details and he said he is recused from the investigation, apparently because of the bad blood with the Mayor.
Pelletier and Seitz say the mayor tried to force out Pelletier before. Last year he called on the commission to put Pelletier on leave after what proved to be false allegations that he was protecting Diddy in a sex-crime coverup.
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Seitz said, “Again, we have a situation where the mayor is taking this and looking at it as an opportunity for him to go after the police chief in something that there’s no facts or legal basis for.”
Bissen denied that he was under any investigation, and said Pelletier is trying to influence the election.
“I have not received any information from any source that I’m under investigation for anything, especially not from MPD or anyone else. That is absolutely false,” Bissen said.
“I had no influence over any of the commissioners, and I learned about their decision after it was made,” he added.
Bissen is up for re-election with ballots arriving in the mail next week. He said he thinks voters can still make good decisions despite the controversy.
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