SOLON SPRINGS, Wis. — Two Solon Springs men escaped a car that broke through the ice on Upper St. Croix Lake in the northwestern Wisconsin city on Monday morning, but then were arrested for allegedly breaking into several ice shacks on the lake.

The Douglas County sheriff’s office reported that rescue crews were called to the southern end of the lake at 7:26 a.m. Monday after an angler, arriving at his ice shack, was flagged down by a man asking for help because the car he and a friend were in had broken through the ice.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene as the two men — identified as Ryan VanPuymbrouck, 20, and Tyler Hale, 24 — were being brought off the ice by the Solon Springs Volunteer Fire Department.

The men initially told deputies that they had just been driving around on the ice, broke through and were able to escape the sinking car before entering an ice shack to stay warm.

After additional questioning and investigation, however, the men confessed to breaking into several ice shacks at the southern end of the lake prior to the car breaking through the ice. They admitted to stealing a TV, ice auger and liquor, among other items, the sheriff’s office reported.

“Judging from the tire tracks in the area, it appears as if they became lost or disoriented as to their location and ended up in the river flowing out the south end of the lake where they broke through the thin ice,” the sheriff’s office reported.

The car, a 2014 Ford Focus owned by Hale’s girlfriend, was found submerged in 6 feet of water. It was not insured, authorities said.

VanPuymbrouck and Hale face several counts of burglary. The incident remains under investigation.