Talk of a zombie apocalypse may just be a pop culture spin on an otherwise very real danger: the increase in use of street drugs causing violent -- almost beast-like -- behavior.
Just two weeks after the infamous face-eating attack on the MacArthur Causeway, a Miami man believed under the influence of a bath salts-like drug reportedly growled at arresting officers, yelled "I'm going to eat you," and tried to bite them.
North Miami Beach Police witnessed Brandon De Leon, a 21-year-old homeless man, having a verbal argument with another man at a local Boston Market on Saturday. Their altercation blocked the restaurant entrance so that no patrons could enter or leave, according to the arrest report.
At one point De Leon looked over at the officers and yelled "F*ck you!" with his middle finger out. Officers arrested De Leon for disorderly conduct. While in the patrol car, he repeated banged his head against the Plexiglas and yelled "I'm going to eat you."
At the station, De Leon tried to bite the officer taking his blood pressure, and police note that he also "growled and opened and closed his jaw slamming his teeth like an animal would."
De Leon continued to bark, growl, and smash his head once inside the cell, prompting officers to wonder if he was under "some type of dangerous narcotic" that made him behave in such a "very bizarre and strange" manner, as noted on the report. He was put in leg restraints and a bite mask.
Police said De Leon, who was in possession of rum and Four Loko when arrested, was discovered to be under the influence of a bath salts-like drug called "Cloud 9", which the report described as an "incense type substance that can be smoked like marijuana and achieve numerous levels of impairment."
His blood test also revealed levels of cannabis, alcohol, and Xanax.
"I have no recollection of anything that happened that night," De Leon told a judge at his bond hearing on Monday, where bail was set at $7,500 on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest with violence.
A Jackson Memorial Hospital emergency room doctor suspected Rudy Eugene was under the influence of bath salts when he ate the face off homeless victim Ronald Poppo on May 26.
A North Miami Beach Police officer's safety bulletin obtained by WSVN7 stated that "It was later discovered De Leon had taken a synthetic drug named Cloud 9. This bears resemblance to the incident that occurred in the City of Miami last week when a male ate another man's face. Please be careful when dealing with our homeless population during your patrols."
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