MIAMI -- A homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off in a bizarre assault alongside a busy Florida highway told police that his attacker "just ripped me to ribbons."
In a recorded interview with investigators, Ronald Poppo said the man who approached him at first seemed friendly. Then the man, Rudy Eugene, seemed to become angry about something that had happened on Miami Beach, where thousands were partying through the holiday weekend in late May.
"For a while he was acting nice. Then he got flustered. He probably remembered something that happened on the beach and was not happy about it," Poppo said in the interview that was taped July 19 and first reported Wednesday by Miami news station WFOR-TV.
Poppo said Eugene "turned berserk" and attacked with his bare hands, screaming that both men would die.
"He just ripped me to ribbons. He chewed up my face. He plucked out my eyes. Basically, that's all there is to say about it," Poppo said.
Eugene, 31, was shot and killed by a Miami police officer during the attack. Lab tests found only marijuana in his system.
Poppo, 65, remains in a long-term care facility after losing an eye, his eyebrows, his nose and parts of his forehead and right cheek in the May 26 attack. His other eye was severely damaged.
Doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center said last month that Poppo was in good spirits, talking and walking around, but he would need several more surgeries before he could explore the options for reconstructing his face.
Surveillance video recorded from security cameras on The Miami Herald newspaper building showed a naked Eugene walking up to Poppo as cars and bicyclists zipped by. Poppo was reclining on the sidewalk near the parking garage where he lived.
Police asked Poppo whether he provoked Eugene.
"What could provoke an attack of that type?" Poppo said. "I didn't curse at the guy or say anything mean or nasty."
Poppo also thanked the police for saving his life, saying the officer who shot Eugene arrived just in time.
