Days after Rudy Eugene bit off the face of homeless man Ronald Poppo, another man attempted the same crime in a case that has become known as the "Miami Zombie Copycat."
The latest member of the "living dead" was Brandon DeLeon, a North Miami Beach man, who walked into a Boston Market and tried to get into a fight with another man. Two police officers dining at the restaurant promptly arrested DeLeon.
After the officers arrested him, DeLeon growled at the police and tried to bite one's hand off. According to the New Times Miami, DeLeon was under the influence of "Cloud 9," a synthetic drug.
While in jail, DeLeon's behavior became even stranger according to WSVN. He banged his head repeatedly against the holding cell and growled at officers time and again.
During a subsequent court appearance, DeLeon, no longer under the influence of drugs, told a judge that he had no recollection of the events of his behavior. He remains in jail on a $5,500 bond and has been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
The case has certain similarities with the famous Miami Zombie case. Perpetrator Rudy Eugene has been thought to have been under the influence of "bath salts," a combination of amphetamines that often serves as a replacement for cocaine. "Cloud 9," the drug taken by DeLeon, is both a brand of bath salts and synthetic marijuana. There is no indication of which type of drug was taken by DeLeon.
An autopsy displayed that Eugene had no human skin in his stomach, but had mysterious pills that were left unidentified. The victim in that case, Ronald Poppo, will undergo surgery but may ultimately wind up blind in one eye.
According to Lalate.com, utilizing the jaw as a weapon against others has become more and more common in the Miami area. Both the assailants and victims are usually males.
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