Miami Crime Bus Tour To Include Causeway Cannibal Attack
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- South Florida is filled with history, including a history riddled with mobsters, con men, drug runners, fugitives and assassins; now we can add cannibal to the list. That's exactly what Miami's famous "Mystery, Mayhem and Vice" Crime Bus Tour is doing.
It's adding the side of the MacArthur Causeway, where a naked Rudy Eugene ravaged the face of a complete stranger over Memorial Day weekend, to its list of stops on the tour of Miami-Dade's most celebrated crimes.
Dr. Paul George, who runs HistoryMiami museum's "Mystery, Mayhem, and Vice" crime tour, told the South Florida Business Journal, "Horrible as it was, it is part of our history. Currently, our tour takes us over the causeway right past the site, so this fits well."
Other stops on this ride through time and crime include the Palm Island house of Al Capone, the site of the attempted assassination of Franklin Roosevelt, the Miami City Cemetery, Casa Casuarina, where fashion legend Gianni Versace was gunned gown, and numerous other Miami Vice-esque locales.
The Memorial Day "zombie attack" has become one of South Florida's most notorious crimes.
Rudy Eugene was shot dead on the scene by a Miami Police officer when he refused to stop ripping at Ronald Poppo's face with his mouth and even growled at the officer who ordered him to get off the homeless man.
The head of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, Armando Aguilar, speculated that he may have been high on LSD or "bath salts," which can cause psychosis as the body overheats.
Eugene did strip off all of his clothes as he walked from Miami Beach to the mainland over the MacArthur Causeway before encountering Poppo and beginning the unprovoked, savage attack.
Surveillance video from the Miami Herald shows Eugene pulling Poppo from the shade, stripping and pummeling him before appearing to hunch over and then lie on top of him in what was later discovered to be a cannibalistic attack.
The assault continued for 18 minutes while drivers and cyclists streamed past. It will take several weeks for the toxicology reports to determine if drugs played a role in this bizarre attack.
Meanwhile, Poppo remains at Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition facing months of treatment to rebuild his features and psychological care. The Jackson Memorial Foundation has set up a fund to assist him.
If you want to contribute, or would like more information, contact Neighbors for Neighbors at 305-597-4404.
