New video of face-eating attack released

Victim identified as 65-year-old Ronald Poppo

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. ā€“ The victim who had his face eaten by another man who was shot and killed by police in Miami on Saturday has been identified.

Ronald Poppo is listed in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Fraternal Order of Police President Armando Aguilar said Sunday that Poppo, 65, had about 75 percent of his face bitten off by his attacker.

Poppo is a homeless man who had been living on the streets near the MacArthur Causeway for quite some time.

Sources had previously identified Rudy Eugene, 31, as the man who was seen biting away at the face of Poppo.

"I wouldn't say he had mental problem, but he always felt like -- people were against him type of attitude," said Eugene's ex-wife who declined to give her name publicly. "No one was for him. Everyone was against him."

The couple met while in high school at North Miami Beach Senior High. Their marriage was short-lived, lasting a year and a half.

The two filed for divorce in 2007 during a rocky and violent point in their relationship.

The woman told Local 10's Terrell Forney that Eugene became increasingly violent toward her.

"That's why I left," she said.

She said they had not spoken in or three or four years.

The woman had not yet heard of the gruesome details of the incident involving her ex-husband two days earlier.

On Saturday afternoon, a witness flagged down a city of Miami cop near the exit ramp of the causeway. A police officer ordered Eugene to stop the attack but he refused and even growled at the officer, according to detectives.

The officer opened fire and killed Eugene.

Both men have had prior run-ins with law enforcement. Miami-Dade court records for both show both had been arrested for mostly a handful of misdemeanors.

It's unclear what sparked the fight.

A woman who answered the door at Eugene's former North Miami Beach home told Local 10 that the family who lived there before her had lost the one-story house to foreclosure in 2011. However, Eugene would often pop up to the home unannounced, looking for mail.

She said it made them uncomfortable.

"He kind of looked weird a little bit, but other than that, I said as long as I've got bats and got the alarm system put up, I was OK," said the woman who also declined to give her name.


About the Author:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.