Man killed after vehicle drives off cliff

BROWNHELM TWP. — A 23-year-old Vermilion resident was pronounced dead after his vehicle reportedly broke through a guardrail at North Ridge Road and Vermilion Road and fell off a cliff late Sunday morning. According to the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, troopers found a severely damaged 2020 Ford F-150 on the bank of the Vermilion River and the driver, Alec A. Koutsopoulos, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Elyria post. The single-vehicle crash is under investigation by the Highway Patrol. Initial reports to the Patrol's Medina Dispatch Center indicated Koutsopoulos' pickup was traveling westbound on North Ridge Road when it drove through the Vermilion Road intersection, struck the guardrail and "vaulted" over the steep cliff there, according to the release. The incident was called into the dispatch center at 11:03 a.m. Sunday. Troopers responded to the scene along with Lorain County Metro Parks rangers and the Vermilion Fire Department. The Mill Hollow portion of the Lorain County Metro Parks' Vermilion River Reservation was closed for several hours following the crash and reopened to the public by about 4 p.m.