Jan. 26--BUTLER COUNTY -- A Middletown man is now facing felony charges in connection with a fire that destroyed his house in September.

Ross Compton, 59, has been indicted by a Butler County grand jury on felony charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud for allegedly starting the fire on Sept. 19 at his home.

Middletown fire investigators said there were multiple points of origin of the fire from the outside of the residence, according to a search warrant obtained by this news outlet.

In his 911 call, Compton told dispatchers "everyone" was out of the house, but at the end of the call he is heard saying to someone "get out of here now."

Police said Compton gave statements that were "inconsistent" with the evidence at the fire. He also gave conflicting statements to the ones he told the 911 operator, police said.

The fire caused about $400,000 in damages to the structure and contents of the 2,000-square-foot home on Court Donegal, according to Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Spaulding.

___

(c)2017 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)

Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “aa-” (Superior) of Central States Indemnity Co. of Omaha (CSI), and its subsidiary, CSI Life Insurance Company (CSI Life), collectively referred to as CSI. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. Both companies are domiciled in Omaha, NE.

The ratings reflect CSI’s and CSI Life’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as their adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).

CSI maintains risk-adjusted capitalization at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). Additionally, CSI benefits from its very conservative underwriting leverage, above average liquidity position and the implicit support from its ultimate parent, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) [NYSE: BRK A and BRK B] via investment management services, capital and risk management.

CSI’s investment portfolio includes a relatively elevated level of common stock leverage, which may bring volatility to the company’s surplus. However, a mitigating factor is CSI’s reserves, which have more than enough backing from cash and short-term investments. Investment income has accounted for the bulk of total earnings in the last 10 years. CSI currently writes more non-credit insurance premiums on a gross basis compared with its long-standing credit insurance business. Most of CSI’s gross premiums written are related to long-term fronting agreements.

CSI is a specialty insurance company, which provides credit card credit insurance and has fronting agreements with multiple insurers. While CSI’s business is somewhat concentrated by lines of business, CSI carries the Berkshire brand name and benefits from its implicit support, which helps mitigate these risks. CSI benefits from the formal structure of Berkshire’s ERM. This provides it with resources to monitor and manage risks. CSI has developed its own management program to control company-specific risks.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2026 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261106274260/en/

Patrick Cyphers
Financial Analyst

+1 908 882 1719

patrick.cyphers@ambest.com

Christopher Pennings, CPCU

Senior Financial Analyst

+1 908 882 2237

christopher.pennings@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Associate Director, Public Relations

+1 908 882 2310

christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Al Slavin
Senior Public Relations Specialist

+1 908 882 2318

al.slavin@ambest.com

Source: AM Best