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Homeless Man Hires Getaway Cab For Home Depot Robbery

SANTA ANA (CBS) — Police say an out-of-state transient who hired a taxi to drive him to a Home Depot store which he allegedly robbed was in jail on Thursday.

Cody Michael Ramey
(credit: Santa Ana Police)

Cody Michael Ramey, 31, of Ohio, took a taxi to the store at 3500 W. MacArthur Blvd., about 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

Ramey gave a cashier a note demanding money and made off with about $800 in cash before he jumped back into the cab, Bertagna said.

Store employees ran after him and got the taxi's license number before the cabbie drove away, Bertagna said.

The driver did not know his customer had allegedly robbed the store, Bertagna said.

The workers called police about the robbery and some "quick-thinking" investigators called the cab company to see if it had a tracker, Bertagna said.

When police caught up with the cab they found Ramey in it, Bertagna said.

Ramey was being held in the Santa Ana jail on suspicion of robbery, Bertagna said.

(©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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