On May 26, 2012, Rudy Eugene attacked and maimed Ronald Poppo, a homeless man, on the MacArthur Causeway in Miami, Florida.

[1] As a result of the incident's shocking nature and subsequent worldwide media coverage, Eugene came to be dubbed the "Miami Zombie" and the "Causeway Cannibal.

While police sources speculated that the use of a street drug like "bath salts" might have been a factor,[3] experts expressed doubt, since toxicology reports were only able to identify small amounts of marijuana in Eugene's system, leaving the ultimate cause of his behavior unknown.

[4] Poppo, 65, a graduate of Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School, was homeless and had long been presumed dead by his estranged family.

[5] After spending 30–40 minutes at the site, as filmed on security video in and around the car,[5] he abandoned it around noon and began to cross the 3-mile-long (4.8 km) span of the MacArthur Causeway, stripping himself of his clothing and disposing of his driver's license as he advanced westward, according to eyewitnesses.

[5] Eugene, who eventually became completely naked, discarding even his shoes and his Bible at the crime scene,[5] encountered 65-year-old Ronald Poppo at approximately 1:55 pm.

Poppo had been lying underneath the elevated Metromover people mover viaduct when Eugene began to pummel him, strip him of his pants, and bite his face.

[9] A few minutes later, Miami Police Department officer Jose Rivera [10] arrived and, after doing a double take at the spectacle,[11] warned Eugene to desist from attacking Poppo.

[11] Poppo was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition, with 75–80% of his face above the beard missing[9][11] and his left eye gouged out.

[15] Poppo spoke to police, whom he thanked for saving his life, on July 19, explaining that Eugene, whom he hardly knew, approached him in a friendly manner but then, complaining he couldn't "score" at the beach and "souped up on something," started to talk about how they were going to die, accused Poppo of stealing his Bible, and, suddenly and without provocation, attacked and strangled him with wrestling holds, and then "plucked out" both his eyes.

[19] Although police sources had speculated that the street drug "bath salts" might have been involved, preliminary toxicology reports were positive only for the presence of cannabis.

[26] Eugene attended North Miami Beach High School in the 10th and 11th grades,[27] and he played on its football team in the late 1990s.

He attended Manhattan's prestigious Stuyvesant High School, where he was a member of the Latin Club and worked in the guidance office.