Buffalo Grove cop frees skunk trapped in jar

A skunk that got its head stuck in a pasta sauce jar owes a debt of gratitude to a Buffalo Grove police officer.

Police Cpl. Anthony Goldstein said the it took the cop about 30 minutes, but the healthy-looking animal was freed and scooted off late Friday at the upscale Amli at Chevy Chase apartment complex on Johnson Drive, just west of Lake-Cook Road and Milwaukee Avenue.

Goldstein said police were summoned at 9:06 p.m. Friday by a man at the apartment complex who noticed the distraught skunk moving around with its head in the jar.

"The complainant was concerned that the animal was running out of air," Goldstein said Saturday.

Goldstein said the officer patiently turned the jar and maneuvered the skunk's head to free the animal, similar to how someone would try to remove a tight ring from a finger. He said the skunk did not spray the cop during the rescue effort.

At one point during the incident, police at headquarters began searching the Internet for tips on how best to get a skunk out of the jar, authorities said. It wasn't long after police went online that the skunk was freed.

Police initially believed the skunk's head was trapped in a mayonnaise jar. However, said Goldstein, it turned out the skunk plunged its head into a jar that once contained creamy Alfredo sauce.