A homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off in a bizarre assault alongside a busy South Florida highway told police that his attacker "just ripped me to ribbons."

In a recorded interview with investigators made available Thursday, Ronald Poppo said the man who approached him initially seemed friendly. Then the man, Rudy Eugene, seemed to become angry about something that had happened on Miami Beach, where thousands were partying through the Memorial Day weekend.

"For a while he was acting nice. Then he got flustered. He probably remembered something that happened on the beach and was not happy about it," Poppo told investigators in the interview. It was taped July 19 and first reported Wednesday by Miami news station WFOR-TV.

Poppo said Eugene then "turned berserk" and attacked with his bare hands, screaming that both men would die.

"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 said.