Dunkirk teen killed in crash in Hardin Co.

12/18/2006

ALGER, Ohio - A Dunkirk, Ohio, teenager was killed yesterday when she was thrown from the rear seat of a vehicle after its driver lost control on Hardin County Road 110 at State Rt. 235 in Marion Township, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

Chelsea Ratliff, 18, was pronounced dead at Lima Memorial Hospital.

Thomas Risner, 18, of Harrod, Ohio, was driving west on Road 110 about 1:30 a.m. when his vehicle went airborne twice - first going over a hill and then striking a culvert - and eventually came to rest in a field, troopers at the patrol's Findlay post said.

Mr. Risner was admitted in fair condition to the Lima hospital, where Chris Collingsworth, 16, of Lakeview, Ohio, who was a front-seat passenger, was treated.