WILKES-BARRE – A former Kingston police detective didn’t have a license for a loaded pistol found inside his vehicle, city police allege in arrest papers.

Daniel Griffin, 45, of Swoyersville, was arraigned on Tuesday by District Judge Martin Kane in Wilkes-Barre on a charge of carrying a firearm without a license. He was released without bail awaiting a preliminary hearing in Central Court on June 3.

Police allege they found a loaded .25-caliber pistol in its holster inside the console of Griffin’s Ford Crown Victoria that had a “Police Interceptor” front license plate and a K9 sticker on the trunk. The vehicle, with tinted windows, was seized when it was found in a parking lot on East Northampton Street on May 13.

Griffin was arrested by city police on Public Square that day on an warrant obtained by Fleetwood police in Berks County accusing him of impersonating a police officer during a traffic stop.

“This started out in Berks County on the search warrant for my car,” Griffin said in a telephone interview after he was arraigned on Tuesday. “It’s true and correct to their beliefs; I don’t believe it to be true. I plan to aggressively defend myself. For me to make further comment right now, I really can’t. I just found out about these new charges this morning. I ask that you please reserve judgment until the deposition of this case.” Fleetwood police said in arrest records that they stopped Griffin, driving the Ford Crown Victoria, for traveling 55 to 60 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone on May 7. Griffin immediately got out of his vehicle waving a badge and identifying himself as a Kingston police officer, according to the criminal complaint filed by Fleetwood police.

Fleetwood police learned that Griffin was no longer an officer with the Kingston Police Department.

Griffin was arraigned by District Judge Gail M. Greth in Richmond Township, Berks County, on Aug. 20 on charges of impersonating a public servant and false identification to law enforcement. He was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.

Griffin has been embattled with Kingston officials since July 2007 when he was charged with forging the name of a former Kingston police chief for reimbursement of a shotgun he personally purchased. A Luzerne county jury convicted Griffin of criminal attempt to commit theft and forgery in September 2008.

Griffin is appealing his conviction.

A year after he was terminated from the Kingston Police Department in December 2007, Griffin filed a federal civil lawsuit accusing Kingston officials of conspiring against him.