Holyoke, Massachusetts - A poor little had become wedged in a storm grate and was unable to move forward or backward. Fortunately, Fernando Riviera Jr. was on the scene!

On Monday, he discovered the helplessanimal at the edge of a park.

As the local police station was nearby, he was able to immediately flag down a couple of police officers to come and help.

The officers lifted the storm drain cover, but the raccoon was still stuck inside the bars.

Then Rivera came up with an unusual idea.

He opened two laundry detergent pods and used them to lubricate the raccoon's head to help get it unstuck from the metal bars.

The attempt to make the animal more slippery was successful, and after around 20 minutes of wrangling, the ordeal was over – the critter was free!

Professional animal rehabbers took care of the rest.

The police thanked the good samaritan later with a for the helpful passerby who helped the animal without hesitation.

"We would like to thank Mr. Rivera for getting the animal in distress the help that it needed," the officers wrote.