Victim of gruesome Miami attack once lived in NOLA

Rudy Eugene and Ronald Poppo
(Credit: CBS/Miami-Dade Police Dept.)

NEW ORLEANS –

The homeless man attacked by a naked man in Miami once lived in New Orleans.

Ronald Poppo, 68, is in critical condition after authorities said nearly 75 percent of his face was chewed off. Police said a naked man, Rudy Eugene, 31, attacked the homeless man on a Miami expressway on Saturday afternoon.

A surveillance video showed an officer who found Eugene pulling off Poppo’s pants while he stripped the flesh from his face. The officer told Eugene to stop, and when he didn’t, the officer opened fire and killed him. Authorities said Eugene was high on bath salts.

“The first thing that happens, it’s like a euphoric effect, and then it becomes a cocaine-PCP aggression. We don’t know what a person can be capable of if they ingest this thing,” WDSU medical editor Dr. Corey Hobert said.

Investigators said they don’t know yet how the two men are linked. Poppo was living under the causeway.

http://www.wdsu.com/news/local-news/new-orleans/Victim-of-gruesome-Miami-attack-lived-in-NOLA/-/9853400/14352578/-/31jdai/-/index.html

Cannibal Attack Victim’s Family Hadn’t Heard From Him In 30 Years

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – When the Causeway Cannibal Rudy Eugene attacked Ronald Poppo, 65, he had been on the streets for more than 30 years. While he has a long criminal rap sheet related to being homeless, his sister Antoinette Poppo remembers a different time.

“I remember a very intelligent boy,” Antoinette told CBS4′s Gio Benitez. “He went to a private school, and I really don’t understand what happened.”

What happened to Poppo Saturday is almost beyond description. He was savagely attacked by Eugene who would chew off and eat part of Poppo’s face.

Poppo remained in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital Wednesday with his nose, mouth, and eyes torn off of his face.

For now, investigators are stuck trying to piece together the puzzle of what is one of South Florida’s most heinous crimes and the two people involved.

The man accused of the hideous attack, and shot dead by a police officer, is 31-year-old Rudy Eugene who had deep roots in South Florida, with friends, family and a rap sheet.

For the victim Ronald Poppo, 65, however, it’s a completely different story.

At nine years old, Poppo and his family were involved in a serious car accident in New York. A yearbook photo acquired by the Miami New Times showed Poppo went on to become a decorated student at one of New York’s most prestigious high schools, Stuyvesant High.

Then, the family lost touch with him and haven’t heard from Ronald in 30 years.

“Well, I tried to reach him, but I just thought he killed himself,” Antoinette said. “And we really thought he was no longer on this earth.”

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/05/30/cannibal-attack-victim-homeless-for-more-than-3-decades/

https://battleofourtimes.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/bizarro-world-naked-man-killed-by-police-near-macarthur-causeway-was-eating-face-off-naked-victim