The jurors summoned to hear a case of a man that allegedly robbed an elderly woman after pushing her down into her home were dismissed Wednesday morning after the defendant decided to plea to reduced charges.

Michael Stevens, 43, is accused of robbery in two separate incidents when he pushed women down who were entering their homes and stole their purse or wallet.

Throughout the day Tuesday, jury members heard details of an incident that occurred on June 30, 2018, when an elderly woman and her husband had returned home from Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl around 9:50 p.m. The couple parked their car in the carport next to their home, and  the woman’s husband unlocked the door and went inside to turn the lights on. As the woman went to enter her home, she felt a presence behind her and turned around to be met face-to-face with a man that ultimately pushed her to the ground, grabbed her pink leather clutch and ran from the home to a vehicle.

“He was staring me in the face,” the victim said through tears as she testified Monday afternoon. “Next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor, I guess I yelled.”

The woman’s husband rushed in to see what the commotion was about and attempted to follow the man that had robbed his wife.

Following the robbery, the couple called 911. The victim gave a description of the man as being a light-skinned black male, about 6 feet-tall, clean-shaven, bald and in his early twenties.

Stevens’ defense attorney, Keith Edwards, harped on the description of the man that attacked the woman asking if Stevens looked like a younger man with light-colored black skin.

The victim reassured Edwards she knows exactly what the man looked like, and it was the defendant.

“I go to bed at night, I see his face. I wake up in the morning and I see his face,” the victim said while testifying.

Edwards continued to push the victim’s recollection, asking if she’d ever picked Stevens out of a lineup. The woman again testified that she never picked him out of a lineup but was certain the man that attacked her was Stevens.

When deputies were canvassing the area, a black hosiery cap was found near where the victim’s husband described the robber’s car being located. There were also tire tracks in the grass near the cap.

A Bureau of Criminal Investigation DNA forensic scientist testified that there were multiple people’s DNA on the cap but the most dominant DNA profile matched a sample from Stevens.

Witness testimonies concluded Monday just before 4 p.m., and the jury was set to appear for the second day of trial Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.

Monday evening, Stevens agreed to plea to reduced charges in his trial case, as well as to charges in a prosecutor’s bill of information in a second case.

Prior to the June 30 incident, Stevens allegedly committed similar offenses when a man and woman left Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl on June 3, 2018. The man dropped the woman off at her home and Stevens approached her as she was about to enter her home.

Stevens asked to borrow her cell phone, which she stated she did not have on her. It appeared that Stevens was turning around to leave when he pushed the woman onto the ground causing her to hit her head on the pavement. He grabbed her purse, attempted to pull a diamond ring off her finger and then fled the area, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ron Welch stated during Stevens’ plea hearing.

In the June 30 case, Stevens pleaded guilty to one count of robbery, a second-degree felony, one count of theft of less than $1,000 from an elderly victim and theft of a credit card, both felonies of the fifth degree.

In the June 3 case, Stevens pleaded guilty to one count of robbery, a third-degree felony, and one count of theft of less than $1,000, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Stevens is being held in the Muskingum County Jail without bond until his sentencing.