For a few minutes, three-year-old Ethan of Queensland, Australia, was living the dream as he stood among a mountain of Hello Kitty plush.
Ethan’s parents, however, were less than thrilled because their son had climbed inside a claw machine to reach the squishy treasure trove at Capalaba shopping centre on Sunday.
Queensland Police shared video of the cheeky toddler on social media with the caption, “Ethan and the Police: 1 Claw Machine: 0.”
Ethan’s parents told The Guardian that the boy crawled into the machine through its prize flap.
In the video, Ethan, wearing a Power Rangers T-shirt, smiled at his parents through the claw machine’s glass pane as police worked out how to free the unbothered child.
One officer suggested Ethan move to the back corner of the machine so that police could break the glass. Under the instruction of his parents, Ethan waded through the stuffed animals and covered his eyes to protect from the impact.
Ethan squealed as a police officer lifted him out from the machine.
“You won a prize, which one do you want?” the officer asked the boy playfully.
He was inside the claw machine for no more than 15 minutes.
Ethan’s father, Timothy Hopper, told reporters his son crawled inside the machine while the family was grocery shopping. In an experience many parents will certainly be able to relate to, Hopper said he turned his back for “a split second.”
“He loves claw machines,” Hopper told The Guardian. “As he always does, he opened up the flap to be an opportunist. Then, within a split second, he crawled into the machine, the door closed behind him. He stood up and realized what happened and he was king of the mountain.”
A spokesperson for Retail First Group, the organization that owns the Capalaba shopping centre (and 20 others in Queensland) told the outlet it’s never seen anything like this before. The group is in conversation with the claw machine vendor to discuss how to prevent this in the future.
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