After going missing more than 10 years ago, Amanda Berry shouted to a man from a Seymour Avenue house on Monday. Charles Ramsey and Angel Cordero broke down the door and freed Berry, who was 16 when she disappeared in 2003. Cordero told NewsChannel5’s Stephanie Ramirez that he recognized Berry from posters and that she was with a 4 or 5-year-old child.
Other victims are Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus. The 43-year-old dishwasher has been lauded for his heroic efforts after helping three women and a young girl escape captivity from his neighbor’s house. But Ramsey was arrested at least three times for domestic violence from 1997 to 2003.
He never claimed to be a hero — or a saint. In fact, Charles Ramsey said his criminal past — which surfaced after he helped three women escape from Cleveland’s house of horrors — led him to become a better man.
“Those incidents helped me become the man I am today and are the reason why I try to help the community as much as I can … including those women,” the 43-year-old told TMZ.
The gutsy dishwasher — who’s become an Internet sensation thanks to his animated interviews — was convicted of domestic violence three times from 1997 to 2003, according to an arrest report obtained by The Smoking Gun. The assaults were related to his then-wife Rochelle, who told the website that he also failed to pay child support for their now-15-year-old daughter.