CAMDEN — The attorney for Don McLean said Sunday the “American Pie” folk singer and his wife have agreed that an order of protection request she made following the arrest of McLean on a domestic violence charge should be dismissed.

Police arrested McLean on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge on Jan. 18. Court records said his wife filed a handwritten request for protection.

The couple have “agreed to move forward” and dismiss the order of protection case, attorney Walter McKee said. However, McKee also said McLean’s criminal case is still due for a Feb. 22 court date in Rockland.

The singer, a resident of Camden, will enter a plea of not guilty, McKee said. McLean will not be required to appear personally in court that day. Once the plea is entered for him, the matter will be referred to a judge for a conference, McKee said.

“Neither party is seeking divorce. This now becomes a private matter.” McKee said, referring to the fact that the couple will remain together.

McLean’s wife, photographer Patrisha McLean, said in a statement she “did not intend to define Don or our relationship” with her protection order request.

The request said that when she called 911, she feared for her life because of McLean’s rage. It also documented a pattern of abuse going back decades.

On Sunday, she asked McLean’s fans not to focus on his court case. She posted a statement that appeared on McLean’s official website.

“When I wrote out a statement in order to obtain a temporary protective order against my husband Don McLean I did not know it would be made public,” she wrote. “I did not intend to define Don or our relationship based solely on the events recounted in the statement.

“Don has a big heart,” she said. “He and I had many happy times in the 30 years of our marriage and what has recently transpired is unfortunate for all of us. I would ask everyone reading this to ignore the sensationalist, scabrous headlines and focus instead on the joy that Don, and his music, has given to so many for so long.”

Reached by email Sunday evening, Patrisha McLean declined to comment further.

McLean’s signature song, “American Pie,” topped the Billboard chart 44 years ago. The song was about the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959.

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