Crime

‘Cannibal’ Victim Speaks Out for the 1st Time: ‘He Chewed Up My Face. He Plucked Out My Eyes’

Ronald Poppo Speaks Out for the 1st Time About Rudy Eugene Attack

Rudy Eugene

Following the unbelievably-violent attack that left Ronald Poppo, a homeless man in Miami, Florida, with a nearly-entirely chewed-off face, the victim is finally speaking out.

In interviews with authorities — his first publicly-released words since the attack in May — Poppo said that Rudy Eugene, the so-called “cannibal” (although he didn’t actually consume Poppo’s flesh) responsible for the attack “just ripped [him] to ribbons.”

“He chewed up my face. He plucked out my eyes. Basically that’s all there is to say about it,” Poppo lamented.

The police interviews provide more details about the bloody and life-threatening encounter, particularly about what happened before Eugene attacked the man. According to Poppo, the assailant was initially friendly when he approached him. But, he claims that Eugene suddenly became angry about an incident that had apparently unfolded on Miami Beach, where thousands of people were partying throughout Memorial Day weekend.

Ronald Poppo Speaks Out for the 1st Time About Rudy Eugene Attack

“For a while he was acting nice. Then he got flustered,” Poppo recalled in the July 19 interview, according to The Associated Press. “He probably remembered something that happened on the beach and was not happy about it.”

In the end, though, the victim says he has no idea why Eugene attacked him and he can only assume that it was a reaction to something that had happened previously that day. “He just went and turned berserk,” he maintained in discussions with Miami homicide Det. Sgt. Altarr Williams and Det. Frankie Sanchez.

Among the more revealing parts of the interview was the dialogue between Poppo and authorities about what Eugene was saying to the man during his vicious attack. CBS Miami has more:

Sgt. Williams asked Poppo what Eugene was saying when he attacked him.

“’You, me, buddy, and nobody else here,’” Poppo recalled. “’I’m gonna — gonna kill you.’ Or something like that, I guess.”

“Did he say why?” Williams inquired.

“No, he just started to scream,” Poppo explained. “And was talking kind of funny talk for a while too.”

“What do you mean by funny talk?” Williams asked.

“That I was gonna die. And he was gonna die,” Poppo said. “He must have been souped up on something.” [...]

“He mashed my face into the sidewalk,” he said. “My face is all bent and mashed up. My eyes, my eyes got plucked out. He was strangling me in wrestling holds at the same time he was plucking my eyes out.”

While it was assumed that, at the time of the attack, Eugene was on bath salts, a drug growing in popularity, a medical examiner dispelled this rumor back in June; bath salts were not found in his system.

Here’s the CBS Miami news report, featuring Poppo’s words:

In a subsequent interview, Poppo told authorities that Eugene blamed him for stealing his Bible. While pieces of the book were found scattered along the road, Poppo claimed he never saw Eugene with a Bible and he flatly denied taking it. In fact, he recalled nothing being in Eugene’s hands when they met.

Poppo is now blind in both eyes and his wounds — which we’ve shown you before — are still in the process of healing.

(H/T: CBS Miami)

Comments (20)

  • Bevrages
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 7:44pm

    This story is disturbing on so many levels but the worst part was watching Glenn and the boys laugh and laugh about it on the radio show right after it happened. I realize it is an unbelievable story but I was surprized by how little compassion they had for the victim. It bothered me so much that I considered cancelling my subscription to GBTV. But I remembered that everyone makes mistakes. Has anyone from Mercury One has reached out to Mr. Poppo to offer assistance ? He was homeless to begin with and now he is blind. He sure could use a seeing-eyedog but then the dog would be homeless too. Sorry if I am rambling on but I was just wondering.

    Report Post » Bevrages  
  • JACKTHETOAD
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 5:40pm

    If he wasn’t a homeless man (that’s spelled BUM) to begin with, this might not have happened to him. btw…are there still ‘bum fights’ on youtube? (This ups the ante, I must say) “If thine eye offends thee, then pluck it out.” Maybe he prayed for help. :)

    Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
  • The_Almighty_Creestof
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 2:15pm

    What is odd is that, according to the police report/autopsy report…though some flesh was found between the teeth of the attacker, on the ground near the body AND in the attackers stomach…nowhere near enough was found to account for that missing from the victim.

    Report Post »  
  • blazingaway
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 12:40pm

    what a mess … arm yourself and shot the zombies and then go to jail like zimmerman or don’t arm yourself and have your eyes removed for being blind to reality as BO and these anti-gun people are.

    Report Post » blazingaway  
  • gigalynx
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 12:22pm

    Barry Soetoro should have a beer with this guy, then all would be right again…

    Report Post » gigalynx  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 11:49am

    Who says Eugene was on bath-salts? THere are plenty of blacks in Africa cooking and eating each oher right now and they aren’t on bath-salts. They don‘t need ’no steeeenking bathsalts’

    Report Post »  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 11:42am

    He didn’t pluck that guys eyes out and chew his face off…..somebody else did that…..he DID DENT DO IT ON HIS OWN…….he walked over a government bridge onto a government road and ate somebody’s face off who is homeless because of the government…..

    Report Post »  
  • FoxholeAtheist
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 10:45am

    Praise the lawd. After all, nothing happens without its sayso.

    Report Post » FoxholeAtheist  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 10:09am

    So it looks like a naked , unarmed black man, can eat your face off in a matter minutes,,,,,,,,where’s a white Hispanic Jew when you need one ???

    Report Post »  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 10:07am

    If Obama had a son ……

    Report Post »  
  • LeadNotFollow
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 9:48am

    …
    At least the attacker can never harm anyone ever again.
    Glad the police took him out of the gene pool.
    Wish the Fort Hood mass murderer had been taken out.

    Report Post »  
  • blackyb
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 9:24am

    it may or may not have been bath salts, but there was something “souping” him up. They should lock him up and throw away the key for permanently damaging this old man.

    Report Post » blackyb  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on August 9, 2012 at 9:30am

      @BLACKB They’d have to dig him up first..

      Report Post »  
    • Dolt
      Posted on August 10, 2012 at 7:24am

      No, it’s not that it “may or may not have been bath salts”. It is a matter of fact that it was NOT bath salts. It was a fact determined by an autopsy. It is also a fact that nothing was “souping him up”. He had no substances in his body. I know facts can be a bummer for a a bunch of you, the govt, and this website, but facts actually matter. The guy was mentally unstable and this homeless victim just happened to unfortunately be in the path of a mentally deranged person. It’s really that simple. No other boogy man, mystery drug or “devil” was at work here.

      Report Post »  
  • klevalt
    Posted on August 9, 2012 at 9:02am

    This is worse than a low-budget horror film! It’s like the men who had their demons cast into swine! Ugly!

    Report Post » klevalt  

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