Love & Order! Woman reveals how she met her husband after calling the cops on him when he staggered into her home drunk and fell asleep on the sofa

• Katherine and Michael Johnstone married eight years after the trespassing saga
• READ MORE: Singletons reveal ‘non-negotiable’ dating rules 

The rise of dating apps which place an endless stream of potential partners at our fingertips has all but extinguished the quaint hope of happening upon a perfect match when we’re least expecting it. 

But, for Katherine Johnstone, from Highland Falls, New York City, that’s exactly what happened – only it couldn’t have been further from love at first sight. 

Katherine first met her husband, Michael Johnstone, after reporting him to police when she found him – a complete stranger at that time – asleep on her sofa early one morning in 2016.

The horrified 22-year-old who’d ‘partied too hard’ and ended up only rolling home at 8am, crept up to the snoring intruder and, using her phone’s torch, tried to work out who he was.

After establishing he wasn’t her sister’s friend, the nervous pair fled their family home and called the police who raced over within minutes.

Katherine Johnstone, 29, and Michael Johnstone, 35, on their wedding day in May 2022. The couple married eight years after Katherine discovered Michael – a complete stranger at the time – on her couch after a night out

Michael Johnstone’s mugshot appeared in the local newspaper after he was charged with second-degree trespassing 

Police woke a bemused Michael up and escorted him from the building to the sisters’ relief.

Katherine was asked to check for any missing or broken items and despite not seeing any obvious signs of damage, the sisters agreed to still press charges ‘just to be safe’.

The stranger, Michael Johnstone, was charged with second-degree trespassing and a mugshot of him was printed in the local newspaper for the whole town to see.

Red-faced Michael, now 35, believed he’d slept on a work colleague’s couch after a night out and once Katherine realised it was an innocent mistake, she dropped the charges.

A sheepish Michael later turned up to her house with a letter and flowers to apologise to the entire family for the stress he caused, unknowingly meeting his in-laws for the first time.

The pair soon became friends and after a year of getting to know each other they started dating.

In 2020 Michael popped the question before they wed in May 2022, welcoming their baby Mila Johnstone in February 2023.

Katherine, now 29, said: ‘We laugh and can’t believe that this is how we met and now have got married and have a family. People bring it up all the time.

The happy couple welcomed their daughter, Mila Johnstone, now eight months, in February 2023

Katherine and Michael pictured last year announcing they were expecting their first daughter 

‘It’s a beautiful story and silly because it’s so unique. I wouldn’t change a thing and I think it makes our love even stronger.

‘My husband is a great man and I’m very lucky to have him. We’re very lucky to have each other.’

The elementary school councillor had asked her sister to leave the door unlocked so she could get in after a night out on May 8th 2016 when she unknowingly first met her husband.

Katherine said: ‘I asked my sister not to lock the door when I went out as I was coming home late, but I partied too hard and ended up coming home at 8am the next morning.

‘I opened my front door and I found this guy sleeping on our couch with a blanket over him. He was snoring and had taken his shoes off.

‘At first I thought he was my sister’s friend. I got my flashlight up on my phone and was putting it to his face to try and work out who he was.

‘I woke up my sister but she said she didn’t have anyone over and there shouldn’t be anyone on the couch.

‘When we realised neither of us knew him, we both ran outside our house and called the cops and told them there was a random man on our couch.

Katherine describes her husband as ‘a great man’ and has shared that she feels ‘very lucky to have him’

Katherine and Michael spent a year getting to know each other as friends before starting to date 

‘I was nervous as I didn’t know who he was and what his intentions were but he was just peacefully sleeping.

‘My biggest concern was just to get me and my sister out of the house and make sure we were safe.

‘The cops showed up right away and brought him outside and just to be safe, I pressed charges against him and he got arrested and taken to the police station.’

Katherine, who lives near a military academy, said she initially thought Michael was a cadet who had drunkenly wandered into her house after going to a nearby bar recruits like to party in.

But after telling friends about the odd encounter, Katherine soon realised she had mutual friends with Michael and, after being asked by one of his co-workers, dropped the charges against him.

Katherine said: ‘The following day I was telling my friends what happened and everyone thought it was very funny.

‘One of my friends said they knew him and then other people started to tell me that they were friends with him and he was a good guy and asked us to drop the charges against him.

‘After this I called the county court and spoke to the prosecutor and they had the charges dropped but he still had to do 50 hours of community service.’

The couple’s happy family includes their eight-month-old daughter Mila and their dog. The pair believe what started out as a ‘scary situation’ for both of them has ended up well 

Katherine and Michael love travelling together and enjoy outdoor activities including hiking 

After she dropped the charges, Katherine said Michael turned up to her house with flowers and a handwritten note to apologise to her family for the stress he had caused.

It was then Katherine says she realised Michael’s trespassing was an innocent mistake and he wasn’t a bad person.

Katherine said: ‘He wanted to apologise to my family about what he had done.

‘He wrote a letter to my family and brought us flowers and really wanted to show that he had made an honest mistake and this wasn’t who he was.’

After his heartfelt apology, the pair added each other on social media and began liking each other’s posts but because she had a boyfriend at the time their communication went no further.

It was only when she broke up with her partner and Michael invited her to a Fourth of July party that the pair began dating a year later.

On December 30th 2020 Michael popped the question in Central Park, before they tied the knot on May 14th, 2022 and then welcomed their first child Mila Johnstone in February 2023.

Michael said what started out as a ‘scary’ situation worked out well in the end.

Michael described meeting his future in-laws for the first time while apologising for accidental trespassing as a ‘wild icebreaker’

Michael and Katherine, pictured in Greece while travelling the world together, became a couple a year after they first met 

Michael, originally from Washington in New Hampshire, said: ‘I was very scared of what had happened. I heard walkie talkies over me before waking up and I quickly realised this wasn’t a good situation.

‘Being woken by police and being unsure of where you are is never a good sign. I had gone out with my co-workers and I don’t usually drink like I did that night.

‘I’d reached out to one of my co-workers to sleep in his house, which was odd because his house wasn’t far from mine.

‘What I think happened was I thought I was going to his house but the reality is I ended up at Katherine’s and fell asleep on her sofa.

‘This is the only time I have ever been arrested. At the time I was in a mass paranoid state and didn’t want it to affect my job.

‘A lot of people know the story and we’re married with a kid now so it’s now looked at without any negative connotations but at the time it could have been.’

Meeting his future in-laws for the first time while apologising for accidental trespassing is something Michael describes as a ‘wild icebreaker’.

Michael said: ‘After what had happened, I got Katherine’s number off a friend as I wanted to talk to her family to tell them it was a big misunderstanding and I didn’t mean anything about it.

Katherine’s parents were fortunately very forgiving about Michael’s trespassing with her father saying ‘it could have happened to anyone’ 

Pictured in front of the Eiffel Tower, the couple have visited a number of destinations together both at home in the US and abroad

‘I met with her whole family and apologised and gave them a handwritten note and flowers.

‘I think they appreciated the apology. Her dad said it could have happened to anyone. They just wanted to make sure I was sincere about it.

‘This was the first time I met her parents so it’s a pretty wild icebreaker..’

‘Our wedding was a great day. A lot of the people that came had been there from the start of our story – it was a full-circle moment.

‘As a life partner, Katherine always brings out the best in me and she’s a great mum.’

Source: Read Full Article