Man accused of mall fondling

A Montgomery County man faces assault and sex offense charges alleging he brushed up against women’s buttocks on several occasions in late August at the Westfield Montgomery shopping mall. Alexander Lamont Porter, 24, of the 6200 block of Clearwood Drive in Bethesda, was arrested and charged with four counts each of fourth-degree assault and fourth-degree sex offense. Police reports allege Porter approached his victims from behind while they were shopping, touched them on the buttocks and walked away. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 50. One woman confronted him, and he told her the touching was accidental. Porter was freed on a personal bail bond.

– Kathleen Miller

Backpack stops traffic

An empty backpack outside an abortion clinic snarled traffic in downtown D.C. for an hour Wednesday. Someone called police around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to report a suspicious package outside the Planned Parenthood clinic near the intersection of 16th and L streets NW, police spokeswoman Traci L. Hughes said. “It turned out to be nothing,” Hughes added. – Bill Myers

Man drowns in Silver Spring

An unidentified man died Wednesday after he was pulled from a water retention pond in Silver Spring. Authorities said an off-duty rescue unit saw the man struggling around 7:30 a.m. on the 9700 block of Sligo Creek Parkway. Emergency workers performed CPR on the man, who was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. By late Wednesday afternoon, more information about the dead man had not been released. – Staff reports

Big printing job

A man walked into a Woodbridge office supply store Tuesday morning and walked out with a bundle of computer ink cartridges without paying for them. Prince William County police are looking for a suspect who committed the 10:20 a.m. robbery on the 14400 block of Potomac Mills Road, according to an incident report. – Dan Genz