According to WOWT-TV, employees at Madsen's Bowling and Billiards in Lincoln said a customer alerted them that the young child was stuck inside the claw machine.

"There must have be 25 people surrounding him but he didn't notice anybody," witness Rachell Hildreth told KETV. "He was just inside playing with the stuffed animals."

The mother was reunited with her son and is not facing any charges.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com