AL Firefighters Rescue Kid Trapped in Claw Machine

Feb. 5, 2019

Fairhope firefighters had to take apart a pizzeria's claw machine in order to pull out the 2-year-old boy who had become stuck inside.

By Ivana Hrynkiw

Source Alabama Media Group, Birmingham

Fairhope, AL, firefighters rescued a 2-year-old boy who had become trapped in a claw machine.

The terrible twos have begun. At least, they have for Ezra Ingersoll.

Ezra’s mother, Kelsey Ingersoll, said she brought her family to have dinner with some friends and their children at Rotolo’s Pizzeria in Fairhope on Monday night. The group ate their food in the game room so the kids could play and the parents could keep an eye on them.

At some point though, Ezra made a decision: He wanted a toy from the claw machine.

“I had been checking on the kids every couple of minutes to make sure they were still playing nicely and all of a sudden, my daughter ran over to me and said Ezra was in the machine,” Kelsey said. “It literally took him seconds!”

Kelsey turned around and saw her two-year-old son standing up inside the toy machine. The opening was large enough for the child to crawl in, Kelsey said, but the machine door wouldn’t open in the other direction, and she quickly realized her son was stuck.

The restaurant didn’t have a key to the machine, so police and firefighters responded to Rotolo’s and took the machine apart. Kelsey said she tried to stay out of the way during the rescue because, while Ezra was calm, she was panicking.

First responders eventually took off the top of the machine and climbed in to grab Ezra. He wasn’t hurt, and police officers made sure to give Ezra the toy he worked so hard to get.

“It was a crazy night for sure,” Kelsey said.

Rotolo’s also had a sense of humor about the situation. Kelsey said the restaurant was great, and even invited the family back for free pizza and toys.

Sounds like the night was a success for Ezra.

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