Homeowner used sword to chop off fingertip of armed home intruder 17 years ago. Suspect — ID'd through fingerprints — finally arrested.

Back in 2006, a Memphis homeowner used a sword to chop off the fingertip of an armed home intruder who then fled the residence. A suspect was quickly identified after police ran prints on the fingertip recovered at the scene, but the suspect managed to elude capture — until now.

What's the background?

A family of eight were sleeping inside their Dothan Street home on the morning of Nov. 6, 2006, when two armed men kicked open the front door and demanded money while firing gunshots, Memphis police told WMC-TV.

The homeowner was pistol-whipped, knocked unconscious, and dragged into a front room, police told the station, adding that the suspects demanded money but took cash and wallets from only four of the victims.

The homeowner regained consciousness, armed himself with a long saber-like sword, fought back against one of the intruders, and cut off the end of the finger of the intruder, police told WMC.

The suspects fled the scene and fired more shots in the process, the station said.

Police told WMC the cut-off fingertip was collected as evidence and scanned for a fingerprint, after which cops said it belonged to Terence Stewart.

Authorities were familiar with Stewart. He pleaded guilty to selling crack in 2005 and was sentenced to four months, WREG-TV said. He also spent two and a half years in prison for a 1996 robbery, WMC added.

After Stewart was named as a suspect, Memphis Police Sgt. Vince Higgins remarked to WMC at the time that "the same guys we've been locking up for the past two, three, four, five years are getting out. And then they go out and do the same thing."

Somehow Stewart eluded capture — until late last month.

Suspect finally arrested

Police on July 27 arrested Stewart — now 45 — at the scene of an accident after discovering multiple active warrants on him, a Memphis Police Department spokeswoman told Fox News Digital.

Stewart was charged with four counts of attempted aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated burglary, the cable network added.

Court records show Stewart was released on a $200,000 bond Aug. 2, WMC reported.

He's due back in court Aug. 15, Fox News Digital said, citing court records.

The name of the second suspect in the 2006 home invasion was not included in court documents, the cable network noted.

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