Weird BUT true

A bronze Dennis the Menace statue, swiped from a park in Monterey, Calif., nine years ago, has turned up at a Florida scrapmetal yard.

The 200pound work vanished from Dennis the Menace Playground in 2006, but it was found recently at Brothers Scrap Metals in Orlando.

The statue, worth $25,000 to $30,000, was installed in 1988, and Monterey officials plan to put Dennis back in his rightful place.

Always keep a spare set of house keys nearby.

Or else you might end up like a man in Pomona, Calif., who locked himself out and got stuck trying to go feetfirst through his chimney, cops said. Los Angeles County firefighters were able to yank him out.

Man, did this guy get a wrong number.

William Lamberson, 29, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., was looking to sell some cocaine and thought he was texting a customer — but instead got Martin County Sheriff ’s Capt. Brian Bergen, a narcotics investigator, authorities said.

Bergen got into character, asking, “You got any hooks for sum blow?” and setting up the buyturnedbust.

Cops still don’t know how Lamberson ended up with Bergen’s phone number.

This is how the cookie crumbles for one repeat offender.

A 47yearold man was busted for stuffing a $3.49 box of cookies down his pants in Altoona, Pa., officials said. But now he faces felony charges because of a string of previous busts.

Builders of a planned dog park in Portsmouth, RI, turned to goats to help them clear the land.

The 17 voracious farm animals chewed through tall grass and other vegetation faster and cheaper than a construction crew.

“Animals helping animals,” said Kim Cipolla, a member of the Portsmouth Dog Park Committee. “Two weeks ago, you couldn’t even walk in there to figure out if the land was level.”