Toddler rescued after getting trapped inside claw machine

A toddler took his burning desire for a plush new doll just a step too far Monday when he crawled into a claw machine and became trapped inside.

The child, around three years old, crawled into the machine through its lower hatch as his family dined at a restaurant in the city of Holon, outside Tel Aviv.

The boy and his family panicked once they realized what had happened, but a resourceful restaurant patron came to their aid.

“The dad was standing to the side, a bit anxious,” Oz Mizrahi told Channel 12 news. “We tried to break into it. People tried to break [the panels] but I told them not to break [them] because there was glass. Suddenly I remembered I had a circular saw [in my car] so I brought the saw and we cut the machine up to get the child out.”

In the end Mizrahi said those present realized the humor in the situation. “It was funny. We brought the dolls to him, I told him to choose a doll, whichever one he liked.”

People often complain claw machines are rigged, but a little boy in Holon may have just found a highly original — if flawed — method of gaming the system right back.