Ronald Poppo: Face-eating victim, tells his story to police

Ronald Poppo, the homeless man whose face was eaten under the MacArthur Causeway in Miami, summed up his experience to police:

"He attacked me," Poppo said about Rudy Eugene, 31, his attacker who was killed by police.

"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's interview with police was released Thursday – the first words about the brutal attack from the victim himself.

The interview, which was taped by police on July 19, was first reported by the Miami news station WFOR-TV.

In it, Poppo described Eugene as friendly at first and then turned increasingly angry as he ranted about his time on the beach that day.

"For a very short amount of time I thought he was a good guy," Poppo said, reported the Associated Press.

"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."

The attacker then turned beserk and grabbed Poppo, yelling that both men would die.

He beat him to the ground, smashed his head into the pavement, stripped him of his clothes and began eating his face.

Rudy Eugene was then shot and killed by a Miami police officer during the 18-minute long attack.

Motives for the attack remain unclear but Poppo said that Eugene seemed "souped up" on something.

A previous interview with police reported Poppo saying that Eugene had accused him of stealing his Bible, said CBS News.

Most of the attack was captured on a nearby surveillance camera in which Poppo appears to be lifeless while he is devoured.

It is estimated that Poppo lost 75 percent of his face during the attack and both of his eyes, reported CNN.