LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO — A Cuyahoga County man is facing felony arson and insurance fraud charges after investigators determined he set fire to a semi-truck he was trying to sell and then filed a $30,275 insurance claim on it — with the fire showing two separate points of origin and records showing he had purchased lighter fluid the day before.
Ashraf Khan, 58, of Olmsted Falls, was indicted August 28 and is being arraigned in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. The Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office said Khan set fire to a 2016 Freightliner Cascadia he had been attempting to sell before a planned move out of state.
A passing trucker spotted the fire at Columbia Mini Storage on Royalton Road in Columbia Township just after 6 p.m. on September 29, 2025, and called it in. Firefighters extinguished the blaze. Investigators found the fire had started in two separate locations — the passenger seat and the sleeper compartment. Two points of origin are a common indicator of arson and investigators concluded the fire was intentionally set.
Khan later filed an insurance claim that GEICO valued at approximately $30,275. Records also showed he had purchased lighter fluid the day before the fire.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre said the evidence pointed clearly to an intentional act.
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