Copycat 'zombie attack': Miami homeless man high on 'bath salts' growls, tries to bite police officer and smashes his head against cell (AND he'd drunk Four Loko too)



A homeless man high on drugs and drunk on Four Loko growled and tried to bite off a police officer’s hand after he was arrested for disturbing customers in a Miami fast food restaurant.



The incident comes just two weeks after Rudy Eugene chewed the face off a homeless man in Miami. The frenzied 18-minute attack only ended when police shot Eugene dead.



In this new case, Brandon De Leon, 21, repeatedly banged his head against the patrol car’s Plexiglas and yelled, ‘I’m going to eat you.’ Both De Leon and Eugene are believed to have been under the influence of a potent drug, known as bath salts.



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Copycat Cannibal: Homeless man Brandon De Leon, 21, tried to bite a police officer, growled and repeatedly smashed his head against the patrol car and his cell wall after he was arrested for getting into a fight with Brian Yerdon. Yerdon, 33, right, was also arrested by North Miami Police on Saturday



The shocking crimes have led to a safety warning issued to local police officers when they deal with Miami’s homeless population.

North Miami Beach police spotted De Leon having an argument with another man outside a Boston Market restaurant on Saturday.



According to an arrest report, the men’s fight blocked the restaurant entrance so no-one could come in or leave.



Officers arrested De Leon and Brian Yerdon, 33, for disorderly conduct.



Crime scene: Police officers arrested De Leon after his altercation with Yerdon blocked patrons from entering or leaving this Boston Market restaurant. De Leon had rum and Four Loko on him when he was arrested

At one point De Leon said ‘F*** you’ to officers, showing them his middle finger, the report states.



At the police station, De Leon tried to bite the officer who was taking his blood pressure and tending to his self-inflicted wounds. The police report noted that he 'growled and opened and closed his jaw slamming his teeth like an animal would.'

Inside his cell, De Leon was put in leg restraints and a bite mask after he continued to bark, growl and bash his head, reported NBC Miami.

De Leon was found to be on bath salts – also known as Cloud 9 – and blood tests revealed levels of cannabis and Xanax. The tests also revealed an alcohol level of .29.



De Leon faces charges including disorderly conduct and resisting an officer with violence. He remains in jail on a $5,500 bond.



In court on Monday De Leon told the judge he could not remember what happened.



'If I can say something your honor, I have no recollection of anything that happened that night,' he said. It is not known whether De Leon has a lawyer.



On bath salts? It is thought that Rudy Eugene, right, may have been on bath salts when he ate the face of Ronald Poppo, left. The attack only ended when police shot and killed Eugene. Poppo is still in hospital

Bath salts, referred to on the street as 'the new LSD' and sold as a cocaine substitute, contain amphetamine-like chemicals such as methylenedioxypyrovalerone.



Users of the drug report to feeling no pain. Its effects include paranoia, hallucinations, convulsions and psychotic episodes.

Toxicology results will determine whether Rudy Eugene was on bath salts when he pounced on Ronald Poppo, a 65-year-old homeless man he found sleeping on elevated train tracks by a Miami highway on May 26.



Footage of the attack shows Eugene stripping and punching his victim before he straddles him and starts to eat his face off.



It was almost 20 minutes until officer Jose Rivera shot Eugene shortly after he arrived. He shouted at the 31-year-old to stop but he simply got up and growled and continued eating at the man's face.

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