Is there crack in this stuff, or what?

An apparently iron-jawed resident of Fairfield, Conn., was busted for shoplifting hundreds of packs of chewing gum.

Kenneth McManus, 21, allegedly took loads of a single brand, sugar-free Orbit, worth $800 from several supermarkets.

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An octopus at the New England Aquarium in Boston got itself stuck inside a locked, food-filled crate that handlers had left in its tank as part of a problem-solving game.

The locked box was meant to be an exercise for the intelligent creature to break into, but he had to be freed by his handlers, who said the game was an “enrichment activity.”

Animal-rights activists, however, called it torture.

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This guy didn’t have a good mind to waste.

A 19-year-old South Carolina technical-college student was arrested after his gun went off in his pocket during class.

He initially said it fell out of his pocket but later admitted he had been fingering the weapon and accidentally squeezed the trigger.

No one was hurt, but he was suspended from school.

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Talk about a money pit!

A Colorado man bought a home, moved in and made $30,000 worth of renovations only to discover he actually had bought the residence next door.

Jonathon Kyte had been living for six months in “plot No. 5” in a Denver condo development, but he actually holds title to plot No. 4.

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Here’s a case of gustatorial ecstasy turning into tragedy.

The winner of an eating competition in Russia died after gobbling down 43 cream-covered pancakes.

“He had really enjoyed the pancakes but then he started foaming at the mouth and went down like a sack of stones,” a witness said.