Rescue tileMARYVILLE, Tenn. - A Tennessee toddler managed to trap himself inside an arcade game at a coin laundry while in pursuit of a pile of plush toys.
Maryville police said 18-month-old Colin Lambert was rescued from inside the machine without injury Tuesday afternoon. The boy's grandmother, Diana O'Neill, told The Daily Times Colin was playing with the door of the claw crane, a game where users manipulate a joystick-controlled arm to pick up prizes inside a fiberglass cabinet.
O'Neill said she received a text message and looked away from the toddler for a moment when she heard a "bang" and saw the boy inside the machine. Colin sat inside the machine surrounded by toys, smiling and waving.
"He was very happy with himself," O'Neill said.
Maryville police and fire departments came to pry open the door and free the undersized prisoner. "One of the firemen told me, 'It happens all the time,'" O'Neill said.
Police Chief Tony Crisp said firefighters got the boy out of the machine at about 1:30 p.m.
"He is OK. He wasn't injured," Crisp said.