The claw toy machine claimed another one.
The irresistible allure of that oh-so-close toy led an 18-month-old boy to get trapped inside a claw toy machine at a coin laundry shop in Maryville, Tennessee on Wednesday until firefighters brought him out safely. Colin Lambert was climbing on the machine when his grandmother, Diane O'Neill, said she was distracted by a text message, and then looked up to see that Colin trapped inside the Plexiglas with the toys.
The boy had pushed hard on the front door of the machine to open it and wormed his way through an 8-to-10-inch gap to reach the toys before becoming trapped.
But this is just the latest incident involving the machines. In April, a 3-year-old Nebraska boy initially thought to be missing, was found inside a claw toy machine in a bowling alley. Another a toddler had to be rescued in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2012 after she found her way inside the machine by crawling up a chute to get inside the machine. In 2010, a Pennsylvania toddler crawled into a claw machine in a mall and had to be rescued.
While some states like Georgia and Alabama regulate claw machines as gambling activities, there is no specific set of safety guidelines for them.
Tiny Colin did accomplish his mission, though. Firefighters let him keep one toy after they rescued him.