Ronald Poppo, victim of face-chewing attacker, tells cops Rudy Eugene "ripped me to ribbons"

(WFOR) MIAMI - Two months after he was viciously attacked on the MacArthur Causeway by a man who chewed part of his face off, Ronald Poppo succinctly summed up the events that captured the country's attention.

"He attacked me," Poppo said of Rudy Eugene. "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 was left blind by the attack. After several surgeries at Jackson Memorial Hospital, he was transferred to the Perdue Medical Center, Jackson's long-term care facility located in South Miami-Dade.

Poppo said he does not understand why Eugene attacked him.

This story originally appeared on CBS4, WFOR's website, which also includes video of the interview..

"For a very short amount of time I thought he was a good guy," Poppo said. "But he just went and turned berserk. He apparently didn't have a good day at the Beach and he - he was coming back. And I guess he took it out, took it out on me or something. I don't know."

Poppo's statements were made and recorded during a July 19 interview with Miami homicide Det. Sgt. Altarr Williams and Det. Frankie Sanchez.

CBS4 News obtained a copy of the taped interview on Wednesday.

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.

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"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."

Although he seemed at peace with what happened to him, certain details of the attack were still vivid in Poppo's mind.

"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."

In a subsequent interview, Poppo told detectives that Rudy Eugene blamed Poppo for stealing his bible. Pieces of Eugene's bible were found scattered along the causeway. Poppo said he never saw Eugene with a bible and denied taking it.

"Did Mr. Eugene have anything in his hands?" Williams asked.

"No." Poppo said, his New York accent still evident despite decades of homelessness and living on the streets of Miami. "Mr. Eugene did not have any type of weapon. He did not use any weapon on me. He basically was using brute force."

"But before he attacked you," Williams wondered, "did he have any clothes? Any materials? Any books?

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"No," Poppo said. "I don't recall him having anything."

Poppo also denied doing anything to provoke Eugene.

"What can provoke an attack of that type?" Poppo asked matter-of-factly. "I certainly didn't curse at the guy or say anything mean or nasty to him."

Although some media reports suggested the two men may have previously met - and that Eugene may have served Poppo in one of the homeless shelters - Poppo said he does not recall ever meeting or seeing Eugene before the day of the attack.

The interview, however, also revealed Poppo's confusion about some details. He thought Rudy Eugene had hitch-hiked across the causeway and may have gotten out of a car before attacking him. Video in the area shows there was no car.

Poppo also recalled Eugene being dressed when he attacked him. In fact, Eugene had shed off his clothes and was naked.

But in addition to those moments that may show Poppo's confusion, there are also moments on the tape that reveal the sadness of his life even before the attack.

The detectives ask him, other than the hospital's address, does Poppo have any other addresses they can use to reach him.

"No, not at all," Poppo said. "Too old."

When they asked if he was employed, he responded: "I'm over 65. So it's going to be kind of hard for me to get anything."

Although the attack left Poppo blind in both eyes and undergoing occupational therapy to deal with the new realities of his life - the

65-year-old seems relatively resigned to what happened to him.

He never raises his voice in the interview or becomes upset. But it is also something he does not enjoy talking about. After less than fifteen minutes with the detectives, Poppo tried to wrap things up.

"Well anyway I'm getting kind of exhausted," he said.

"Okay, I understand," Williams said sympathetically. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

"Nah," Poppo replied. "I thank the Miami Police Department for saving my life. That's about the best I could sum it up as. If they didn't ge there in a nick of time, I would've definitely be in worse shape. Possibly I'll be DOA."

[Jaylah54200]

by EmpireGeorge______-- August 9, 2012 4:23 PM EDT
Jaylah54200, Let's take your own question, and just subsitute the word "gun" for vehicle.

"Now, if Eugene had had a vehicle, and drove into a crowded place with it, how many people would he have managed to KILL before he was stopped?"

________________

You really should change your name to "Miss_The_Point_Georgy-boy".

In answer to your question, most probably a lot less than he would have if he'd have had a gun.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

You just refuse to understand that vehicles can kill, bombs can kill, knives and other instruments of death are common, which are NOT gun related.....and trust, someone/I could do more damage with a sharp Samurai sword than any small sidearm could.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

Jaylah54200

Let me ask you this, we know that these mass killers ignore the law against murder, what evidence do you have that they would follow a gun law, if a murder law was so cavalierly ignored ???.....I'd like you to answer that.

[Valhalla0907]

Wow! I thought I was watching an episode of South Park there for a minute! Has the Canadian War started? I am glad Mr. Poppo is recovering well as possible, and wish him the best. The interview gives us no new information. I am still very curious as to what happened to Ronald Eugene? My theory is that he was an undiagnosed schizophrenic, the cannabis helped to keep the voices and demons away.

[Disclosure_33]

I think its safe to say that unless the news is reporting anything other than murders, is all a lie. Bath salts causing this...***, im guessing they gave him the bath salts and watched it happen then. People who still watch the news need to get the F**k out of their houses and go look at the real world of secrecy and manipulation.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

erasmus111, or maybe there is something substantial between my ears, and I don't just automatically jump on the "anti-object" band-wagon, but instead I analyze the situation, the criminal.

If by magic, you could rid the world of all guns......do you really think killing would cease ? of course not, because criminals don't throw their arms up in the air, helpless because you took ONE tool away from them, they have many others.....maybe that's your problem, is you don't fully understand the variety of weapons available to the criminal, that aren't firearms.....here, they just sharpen screwdrivers and stab you in the thoracic cavity which is just as dangerous as any gunshot is.....and they can stab multiple people, very quickly, with little effort...you act like plunging knives, slicing swords, and people being run over are "preferable" to a gun-shot wound, when I would beg to differ.

So, it's actually the opposite, I'm thinking, you are reacting

[EmpireGeorge______--]

Of course you won't agree, because we come from different countries and origins.....mine is a country based on rugged independence and individualism.....your is one of dependency on a central government, dependency on local law enforcement for your safety and well-being.

[erasmus111]

I just realized you were up here and not down at the bottom. : )


"Of course you won't agree, because we come from different countries and origins..."

Change "countries" to "planets". We live in totally different worlds.


"..mine is a country based on rugged independence and individualism..."


HAHAHAHAHAHA!


"..your is one of dependency on a central government, dependency on local law enforcement for your safety and well-being."

We pay our government to look out for our best interests and that is what they do. We choose to have health care for everyone and we choose NOT to have guns. There is no one stopping us from having guns, it's just harder to get one. It makes it harder for the nutcases to get one.

And as for the cops, we pay then to protect us and they do a damn good job. The people do their part in protecting themselves by using COMMON SENSE (something a lot of Americans lack). We take PRECAUTIONS to limit threats and crime against us. We manage very well without guns. Of course you guys have wall to wall crazies living there, we don't. Ever wonder why you have so many mentally unstable people there?

[EmpireGeorge______--]

erasmus, I read your article, and they mention the word "brandishing".....you do know that doesn't mean firing, it means showing your gun.....and in many cities around the world, two strange men walking up to you and asking you cryptic questions and repeating them is cause for at least, caution or suspicion.......what this shows is that Canadians are more used to casual banter (chat), while Americans are more "stand-off-ish" you might say......so he wasn't going to shoot the guys, just show them that if by any chance, they MIGHT have alterior motives, or if they WERE criminals/muggers, "move it along, this target fights back." was the message that would be sent, nothing more.

[erasmus111]

"I read your article, and they mention the word "brandishing".....you do know that doesn't mean firing, it means showing your gun....."

Well, you've got problems if a person can't even be friendly to you and you feel the need to BRANDISH a gun. And please don't tell me that it's that way around the world. Not in most CIVILIZED countries, it isn't. Just in your country, which is becoming more UNCIVILIZED every day. And the only reason they repeated themselves was because the dumb ass es just stood there looking at them like they had horns growing out of their heads, or something. It's pretty bad when you are THAT paranoid!

".......what this shows is that Canadians are more used to casual banter (chat),"

You mean FRIENDLY? It does tell you something else. It tells you that we don't FEAR people.


"...while Americans are more "stand-off-ish" you might say... "


You mean SNOBS? ARROGANT ass es?


"......so he wasn't going to shoot the guys,"

And they knew that? And how do you know that? They could have been unstable. They are lucky they did't get themselves killed by the cops. Guns are not allowed in public. If you own a gun, you can't just carry it around. You have to get a permit to move it from your home to another SPECIFIC destination. And that is the reason why we don't have to worry about getting shot! Our streets are safe because of that. This incident just proves that point. I feel sorry for you that you live in a country where people can't be friendly to one another without worrying that someone is going to shoot you or attack you.


"'move it along, this target fights back.' was the message that would be sent, nothing more."

I will tell you this. They just made themselves and the rest of you look like fools. To be THAT paranoid is pathetic. It says there is something seriously wrong in America.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

by erasmus111 August 9, 2012 6:00 PM EDT

And that is the reason why we don't have to worry about getting shot!
____________

and again, you have a very bad mis-conception of life in America.....I have never in my life "worried about being shot", even when I've been in the worst slums of NY, I've never "worried about being shot or being shot-at"......you think we are the wild west and that is just not the reality......the only time in recent memory was in the South Bronx, where my wife is from, werer you can hear gun-fire often coming from the nearby park.....of course, because I am NOT 'worried about being shot', I thought they were fireworks....but that was because I was at the time, a naive country (suburbs) boy.

Take this article......there is a reason why we are cautious about strangers walking up and asking strange questions....because the guy might eat your face off !!!! completely unarmed.....with nothing but his white teeth.

[Jaylah54200]

by booooCBSbooooooooooo August 9, 2012 3:21 PM EDT
We need to ban teeth now. The hell with the NTA (National Teeth Association). Those, ba,stards!

----------------------

by EmpireGeorge______-- August 9, 2012 1:41 PM EDT
...and he bit and ripped his face clean off, and he didn't even use a gun, how about that.....let's ban teeth now....

______________________

No surprise that the two of you still completely miss the point.

Eugene savaged ONE man. Gouged his eyes out and ripped his face off with his teeth. However, the man lived. Barely.

Now, if Eugene had had a gun, and walked into a crowded place with it, how many people would he have managed to KILL before he was stopped?

[EmpireGeorge______--]

Jaylah54200, Let's take your own question, and just subsitute the word "gun" for vehicle.

"Now, if Eugene had had a vehicle, and drove into a crowded place with it, how many people would he have managed to KILL before he was stopped?"

Now you will finally understand, that criminals ignore the law, and will simply pick up ANOTHER instrument of death, if a gun isn't available, so by targeting the inanimate object, instead of the criminal themselves, you will forever be chasing objects, while the criminal just grabs one of many tools in his weapon tool box.

Let me ask you this, we know that these mass killers ignore the law against murder, what evidence do you have that they would follow a gun law, if a murder law was so cavalierly ignored ???.....I'd like you to answer that.

[Transatlantique]

America throws people away like their their made in China junk. It mostly happens to men. Why? If America cared about these homeless people, this never would have happened. Did they ever find out what Eugene had in his system to cause this?

[EmpireGeorge______--]

Yes they did..... it was only weed in his system, according to the toxicology reports.

[erasmus111]

"Poppo also denied doing anything to provoke Eugene."


Uh, did you expect him to say he did?


"65-year-old seems relatively resigned to what happened to him."

Well, he did have his eyes plucked out and face chewed up, but it could be that he's happy that he doesn't have to live on the streets anymore. He will be looked after and fed, now.

Of course the hospital could put him in a taxi and have him dropped off on skid row. It's happened before. There are videos of homeless people being dropped of on skid row who are still in their hospital gowns! Ahhhhhh, life in America!

[Transatlantique]

You took the words right out of my mouth.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

erasmus111, and he bit and ripped his face clean off, and he didn't even use a gun, how about that.....let's ban teeth now.....living on the streets is infinitely better than having no face, losing sight and a life of disfigurment.