A homeless man has recounted the terrifying details of a brutal assault that left him permanently disfigured after a naked attacker tore out his eye and chewed on his face during a seemingly random attack in Miami.
The Horrific Assault Under Miami Sun
Rudy Eugene, aged 31, launched a vicious attack on Ronald Poppo alongside a Miami causeway after stripping naked and beginning to act erratically. According to Poppo's account, Eugene started "talking kind of funny" and screaming before suddenly turning violent.
"He attacked me. He just ripped me to ribbons," Poppo told police detectives in 2012. "He chewed up my face and mashed it into the sidewalk. My face is all bent and bashed up. My eyes… my eyes got plucked out."
The assault involved Eugene using wrestling holds to strangle Poppo while simultaneously clawing at his eyes in what witnesses described as a berserk rage.
From Calm to Carnage: The Attack Unfolds
Poppo recalled that initially, his attacker seemed to be "in kind of a glad mood for a while" before the sudden transformation into violence. "For a very short amount of time, I thought he was a good guy," Poppo stated. "But he just went and turned berserk."
The victim speculated that Eugene "apparently didn't have a good day at the beach and I guess he took it out on me or something. I don't know." Poppo emphasised that he had never met Eugene before the attack and did nothing to provoke the assault.
"He turned quite vicious after a minute or two, and he started to rip me apart," Poppo described. "He just started to scream. And he was talking kind of funny talk for a while, too. That I was gonna die. And he was gonna die. He must have been souped up on something."
Aftermath and Ongoing Mystery
Police officers arrived at the scene and repeatedly pleaded with Eugene to stop his attack, but their commands were met only with growls. Officers ultimately shot and killed Eugene when he refused to cease the assault.
Initial reports suggested Eugene might have been under the influence of dangerous synthetic drugs known as bath salts, which have been linked to extreme violent behaviour in other cases. However, toxicology reports revealed only marijuana in his system, with no traces of alcohol, prescription drugs, or common street drug adulterants.
Eugene's family expressed shock at his actions, with his younger brother Marckenson Charles telling the Associated Press: "There's no answer for it, not really. Anybody who knew him knows this wasn't the person we knew him to be. Whatever triggered him, there is no answer for this."
Eugene's girlfriend went further, suggesting to the Miami Herald that supernatural factors might have been involved: "Somebody did something to him, somebody put something on him. I know for sure that wasn't Rudy."
Ronald Poppo required months of reconstructive surgery following the attack. A foundation established in his name raised thousands of dollars to support his recovery and medical expenses, though the physical and psychological scars of the assault remain.
