Charles Ramsey interview: Cleveland Hero Says Domestic Abuse Past Made Him a Better Person [VIDEO]
Charles Ramsey, the Ohio man who helped rescue Amanda Berry and three others being held captive, was jailed twice for domestic abuse, according to recently surfaced legal documents.
The website Smoking Gun published court papers revealing that Ramsey was arrested in the past for incidents of violence against his ex-wife Rochelle, with whom he shares a teenage daughter. Ramsey he had three domestic violence convictions and served his punishment in Ohio's Lorain Correctional Institution between 1998 and 2003. For the past 10 years he has been a model citizen.
On Monday, he became a national hero when he helped Berry, Michele Knight, Gina DeJesus and Berry's little girl escape from captivity. They were allegedly being held prisoner in the basement of a home owned by 52-year-old Ariel Castro. Castro was charged on Thursday with counts of rape and kidnapping.
Ramsey told TMZ on Thursday that he was not the same person he used to be. He said that his past served to make him a better person and he also shared that he and ex were on better terms.
"I've made amends with the people involved and we've all moved on and grown up," he said. "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."
Ramsey also said that he did not have any hatred toward women, and his actions this past week proved otherwise.
"If I had so much hatred for women, I would have minded my own business this week and walked away instead of risking my life to save someone else," he said.
Rochelle came to her ex's defense via Facebook. She wrote on Wednesday that the past did not change his courageous actions and that She people were capable of changing.
"The (main) thing is Charles Ramsey did a good deed and those girls are safe is that not the most important thing?" she wrote.
Ramsey was eating his McDonald's sandwich when Berry caught his attention and asked for help on Monday. He told WEWS-TV that he saw Berry screaming for help as she escaped Castro's Cleveland home.
"I heard screaming," he said. "I'm eating my McDonald's. I come outside. I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of a house."
Ramsey's interviews helped turn him into a viral sensation and McDonalds even saluted him in a tweet. However, Ramsey remained modest during all the press attention and said he didn't even consider himself to be a hero.
"No, no, no, no, no bro. I'm a Christian, an American and I'm just like you," he told Anderson Cooper.
