Drastic change for Fresno man who bit off stranger's finger

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno man who bit off a stranger's finger during a meth-fueled rampage is on his way to prison.

The victim didn't come to Scotty Blair's sentencing Friday. Prosecutors say he wants to leave the incident in his past. If he had come, he would've noticed a drastic change in the man who attacked him.

The Scotty Blair who took his punishment is a vastly different man from the Scotty Blair whose attack led to the five-year prison sentence. The long, unkempt hair is gone, and his attorney says he's far more aware of what he did.

The 42-year-old says he doesn't remember the attack, but the judge told him that just proves he's a risk to the community.

"It is inconceivable to me that you could be under the influence of a controlled substance - in this case, methamphetamine - to such a level that you could bite off the tip of someone's finger and not remember it," said Fresno Superior Court Judge Kimberly Gaab.

Blair's rampage left a permanent mark on the man whose house he invaded after tearing apart a few yards in the Northwest Fresno neighborhood.

We're not identifying the victim, but he told his story at a court hearing last year.

"Grabbing my fist, he pulled my right hand up to his mouth and he sunk his teeth into the middle finger of my right hand," he said in September 2013.

The man has moved on since the attack, even learning to type without the tip of his right middle finger. He's happy with the plea deal that brought court proceedings to a close and prosecutor Dennis Lewis tells Action News his absence in court Friday is the result of his desire to never relive the morning of May 3, 2013.

"It's a horrible morning in his life because can you imagine? Hearing a noise in the kitchen and going out there and finding an intruder in your house and then he bites off the finger," Lewis said. "It's horrible."

Blair had no criminal history before the attack. His attorney says Blair's change of appearance is just one step in becoming a different person. He's hoping drug treatment in prison will give him the tools to live a better life.