Neighbors respond to alleged knife attack with gun, videotape, but no suspect found

An Oak Ridge woman who alleged she was attacked and cut with a knife by an unknown man in her home on Tuesday afternoon was charged with false reporting after police checked the Beverly Circle property and reviewed a neighbor’s videotape, which showed no man had entered or left the residence, authorities said.

Kayla Pesterfield, 21, reported the alleged assault at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. She said the stranger was in her bedroom and attacked her by pushing her up against a wall. The man then cut her right thigh and the front of her shorts with a knife, Pesterfield told police, according to an arrest warrant. 

Pesterfield claimed her doors were locked, and she only used the side door, the warrant said. Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins checked the front door and found it was still locked. The dead bolt at the side door could only be locked from the inside with a key, Higgins said.

He said officers checked the home and found no one inside. He checked the home’s windows and said all still had their screens attached. One window in the rear of the house was slightly open with a tear in the screen, the warrant said.

“However, it is impossible for a full-grown male to have come through the slit in the screen and not have torn the entire screen off,” Higgins wrote.

He said he spoke to one neighbor who was outside at the time of the alleged assault, but the man did not hear any screams or see anyone running from the house.

Another neighbor grabbed his gun and ran to the side of the house where he could see both doors after Pesterfield alerted him. That neighbor said he did not see anyone leave the home.

A third neighbor who has cameras on the outside of his house reviewed the footage to see if he could catch the suspect on tape, Higgins said. The man said he watched the footage from the time Pesterfield left the house to the time police arrived, and no one went in or out of the residence through the front or side door, other than Pesterfield and the police.

Higgins said he too watched the video and “observed no male enter or leave the residence.”

Pesterfield remained jailed on Thursday evening, and her bond has been set at $25,000.

Residents reported a half-dozen or more police cars responded to Tuesday’s call as officers raced to secure the house and search for the alleged suspect. Other emergency personnel were also called to the scene to treat Pesterfield’s reported injuries.

On Wednesday, ORPD Lt. Robin Smith said Pesterfield was not treated for any injuries.

It’s the second report in the past week of an alleged home invasion or assault in the neighborhood just south of Linden Elementary School. On Friday morning, police responded to a report of a home invasion on Butler Road, which intersects Beverly Circle. Authorities later determined that call to be a hoax, although Linden school administrators were notified as a precaution. In that case, the alleged victim claimed that 64 hydrocodone pills had been stolen after two suspects entered the home and demanded drugs while holding him at gunpoint.