The 81-year-old proprietor of an “edgy” newsstand two blocks east of the Verizon Center was arrested last week for allegedly retailing dozens of stun guns behind a glass display case.
The rap sheet for Walter Francis Riggin, of the 4300 block of 17th Street Northwest, dates back nearly 62 years. His latest: 36 counts of possession of a destructive device after investigators say they found 36 stun guns for sale at the K&B Newsstand, his store at 1004 F St. NW.
The stun guns, three of which were of the “cattle prod type,” ranged from 1.9 million to 2.7 million volts.
According to charging documents, Riggin’s Penn Quarter shop was visited Oct. 2 by an inspector with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, who called for help from the Metropolitan Police Department to identify the stuns guns. Stun guns are deemed a “destructive device” and generally banned under D.C. law.
There was no attempt to hide the illicit merchandise, police said. Quite the opposite. Riggin, nicknamed Buster, promoted it with an advertisement for “STUN GUNS” in the storefront window.
Riggin turned himself in to police on Oct. 20. A separate warrant was issued for the possession of a set of metal knuckles affixed to a Bowie-type knife, which also was for sale.
Riggin was released pending a Jan. 7 court date. Reached for comment Friday at his home, Riggin would only say the newsstand is permanently closed. He referred questions about the arrest to his attorney, who did not return calls for comment.
“It was an old, edgy store,” said Miles Groves, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association. “The guy was friendly, had a dog. And I could buy a New York Times there.”
“Columbo,” a blogger with PQLiving.com, recalled visiting K&B a year ago and spotting Chinese throwing stars and nunchakus for sale. There was an adult video section in a back room, he said.
“He must have had that Stun Gun sign up for years,” Columbo said.
Riggin is a lifelong D.C. resident and nearly a lifelong D.C. criminal. His first larceny conviction as an adult dates back to December 1946, court records show. Prison sentences, probation and fines followed for larceny in 1947, burglary in the 1960s, illegal gambling in 1985, criminal copyright infringement in 1986 and drugs in 1993. The list goes on.
Developer Douglas Jemal, the owner of 1004 F Street, is planning an 11-story office building for the site. Riggin’s entire store was unlicensed to do business, a DCRA spokesman said, and his days there were numbered.
