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Chief urges caution on Delavan Lake after two fishermen fall through ice

DELAVAN TOWNSHIP — The ice looked frozen over where an all-terrain vehicle had fallen through a couple weeks ago.

Joe Piscitelli forged ahead, while his fishing buddy veered off the straight path.

“Before I knew it, I was in up to my chest,” he said.

Piscitelli, 47, of Richmond Township said he was caught off guard Tuesday night, when he fell through the ice on the southwest end of Delavan Lake.

“I couldn’t touch the bottom,” he said.

Piscitelli was able to get out of the water with the help of his buddy, who reached out and pulled him back onto the ice.

When he arrived home that night, Piscitelli called the police to alert them to the incident. His chair and bucker were still out on the lake, and he didn’t want emergency personnel to think he was still in the water and conduct a search and rescue operation.

The scene was replayed again Wednesday, when a second man fell through the ice in the same general area of the lake. He, too, was able to get out of the water.

Police don’t know who the man was.

Town of Delavan Police Chief Phill Smith urges ice fishermen to exercise caution when venturing out on the lake. As temperatures rise, the stability of the ice deteriorates, he said, and it’s much more difficult for fishermen to get out if they fall through.

Ice conditions are worsening by the day, Smith said.

“I would advise against going out there,” he said.

Smith urges ice fishermen who choose to go out on the lake to wear life preservers in the event that they would fall through the ice.

Piscitelli learned the importance of going out on the ice with a buddy.

“If I was by myself, I would have probably had some problems,” he said. “I’m not saying I couldn’t have gotten out, but it was cold.

“Things flash before you when you’re in the water.”

He calls his fishing buddy his “guardian angel.”

But the incident didn’t stop Piscitelli from heading out onto Delavan Lake on Wednesday afternoon.“We’re going back out,” he said. “It’s prime time.”