By Kim Palmer
CLEVELAND | Thu May 23, 2013 2:43pm EDT
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The man made famous for putting down his Big Mac to help free three women held captive for about a decade in a Cleveland house will never have to buy a hamburger in his hometown again.
More than two weeks after Charles Ramsey became an instant folk hero after telling his story to television reporters, Cleveland food blogger Michelle Venorsky said on Thursday that 15 restaurants are offering him a free hamburger, whenever he wants it.
Venorsky floated the idea to her followers after seeing Ramsey's first interview on TV.
"He was so entertaining...I thought he should never have to pay for another meal in Cleveland again," Venorsky said in a phone interview.
Since his first interview on local TV, Ramsey, a dishwasher at a Cleveland restaurant, has become an Internet sensation. The restaurant produced a t-shirt with Ramsey's face and the words "Cleveland Hero" on the front, netting $21,000 for a fund set up for the women, who were held captive for about a decade.
Ramsey was not available for comment on Thursday. He has had brushes with the law in the past, including domestic violence convictions.
Amanda Berry, her six-year-old daughter, and two other women, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, were discovered in the house of former school bus driver Ariel Castro on May 6. Ramsey heard Berry's calls for help and he and others helped her escape and call 911.
Castro has been charged with multiple counts of kidnapping and rape. He is in jail on an $8 million bond.
One restaurant owner, Sam McNulty, said the offer of free burgers to Ramsey "is a communal high-five from the Cleveland restaurant industry."
The kidnapping story has several fast food connections.
Ramsey's story, with its mention of a McDonald's hamburger, won him praise from the restaurant chain.
After the discovery of the women, Castro was arrested in front of a McDonald's about a mile from the house.
As a school bus driver, Castro was once accused of leaving a child alone on a bus, telling the child "lie down, bitch," while he visited a Wendy's restaurant.
Also, a neighbor reported seeing Castro park his school bus outside the house and bring a large bag of fast food and several drinks inside, even though he was thought to live alone. The neighbor said his mother called police, who warned Castro not to park his school bus outside the house.
Lawyers said in a statement on behalf of the three women that they are "happy and safe and continue to heal."
(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Grant McCool)
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