Man recalls bizarre face-chewing attack
Source: Agencies |
August 10, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A HOMELESS American 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 on July 19 and first reported on 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 recalled.
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.
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 on July 19 and first reported on 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 recalled.
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.
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