By Tiffany Williams –
WORCESTER — Two attempted-murder convictions. Prison sentences. Repeated probation violations. David Z. Bottom’s criminal record spans more than two decades, and a new arrest has brought the 44-year-old Webster man back into Worcester District Court.
Police say Bottom drove into a parked vehicle Sept. 23 and later registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.17% on a breath test at the police station. He pleaded not guilty to operating under the influence at his arraignment the following day.
Judge William J. Ritter released Bottom on personal recognizance and gave him a bail revocation warning. The charge remains pending, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for Nov. 13.
The new allegation follows convictions for attempted murder, armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. His court history also includes additional incarceration for probation violations, later assault convictions and cases in which prosecutors dismissed serious charges.
The arrest application places the Sept. 23 collision at 90 Providence St. Police reported finding Bottom in the driver’s seat and said he acknowledged driving when his vehicle struck the parked vehicle.
Officer Kaylee Lebron’s statement describes slurred speech, glassy and bloodshot eyes, the odor of an alcoholic beverage and unsteadiness on his feet. According to the officer, Bottom repeatedly volunteered that he was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana.
The officer reported that a breath test conducted at the Worcester Police Station produced the 0.17% result. The account does not identify anyone injured in the collision or provide an estimate of the vehicle damage.
Bottom faces one OUI charge in the new case. Attorney DeAnna C. Wendland is listed as his defense counsel. The police allegations have not been proven in court, and his previous convictions do not establish guilt in this prosecution.
The most serious chapter in Bottom’s documented criminal history began with a reported stabbing in Worcester nearly 20 years ago. It ended with guilty pleas to six charges, including two counts of attempted murder.
Police were dispatched to 5 Miami St. shortly before midnight on Dec. 2, 2006. Officer Michael LaHair’s account described a woman reporting that Bottom grabbed her throat with both hands, leaving her unable to breathe and feeling close to passing out.
According to that account, her father intervened, and Bottom slashed at him with a knife. A woman who stepped into the confrontation suffered cuts to her abdomen and near her left eye. The report also described the father falling with blood on his shirt and another sister suffering small cuts to her wrist and hand.
The indictments named Robert O’Brien as the victim of armed assault with intent to murder and one attempted-murder count. Heidi O’Brien was named in the other attempted-murder count. Three additional counts charged assault and battery with a dangerous weapon against Robert, Heidi and Megan O’Brien, identifying a knife as the weapon.
On March 10, 2008, Bottom pleaded guilty to all six charges in Worcester Superior Court. Earlier District Court charges had been dismissed after he was indicted, but the prosecution continued in Superior Court and produced the convictions.
Judge Kathe M. Tuttman imposed a sentence of five years to five years and one day on the armed assault with intent to murder. She imposed the same sentences on the two attempted-murder counts, to run concurrently.
On the three dangerous-weapon counts, Tuttman ordered three years of probation to follow the prison sentence. Bottom received 450 days of credit for time already served.
The sentence also carried treatment requirements. The court ordered drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment, mental health evaluation and treatment, and a certified batterer’s program.
The prison sentence did not close the case. Bottom returned to court repeatedly over probation violations, and the consequences eventually included another prison term.
In May 2012, he admitted violating probation and was found in violation. In July, he again admitted a violation, and the court directed him to enter and complete a treatment program and comply with additional services.
A further probation warrant was issued in November 2012. It was recalled in March 2013, when the court ordered Bottom held without bail.
On May 6, 2013, Judge James R. Lemire imposed concurrent terms of two to three years at MCI Cedar Junction after another admitted probation violation. Bottom received 40 days of credit.
Bottom later sought to withdraw his guilty plea. The docket records post-conviction proceedings, opposition from prosecutors and the appointment of counsel to review the case. It does not show an order vacating the convictions.
His history with the courts began well before the 2006 attack. In May 2000, Bottom pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine and conspiring to violate drug laws. A related school-zone charge was dismissed at the Commonwealth’s request.
The distribution conviction brought two years in the House of Correction. The conspiracy count brought two years of probation to follow, with requirements for substance-use and psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
That probation also produced repeated proceedings. In March 2003, Bottom admitted a violation and was placed on probation again under the same conditions.
In September 2003, he admitted another violation. The court continued probation and added a requirement that he complete a 15-month residential treatment program. The following month, another admitted violation resulted in a six-month House of Correction sentence.
Other convictions accumulated during those years. Bottom was found guilty of escape in December 2001 and sentenced to 90 days, consecutive to any sentence he was serving, with 90 days of credit recorded.
In March 2003, he was found guilty of receiving stolen property worth more than $250. An October 2003 Class D drug-possession case also resulted in a guilty finding.
A property-destruction prosecution produced three more guilty pleas in March 2005. Two counts were reduced to malicious destruction of property valued under $250. The third remained malicious destruction of property valued over $250.
Judge John S. McCann imposed two years in the House of Correction on the third count, with six months to serve and the balance suspended, along with one year of probation. The sentences on the other counts ran concurrently.
The court recorded 166 days of credit and ordered $568 in restitution. Bottom was also directed to undergo drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment.
Within months, probation again brought him before a judge. Police arrested Bottom on June 20, 2005, on a default warrant associated with the property case.
Three days later, Judge Timothy S. Hillman imposed 18-month House of Correction terms after Bottom admitted violating probation. The suspended sentence and supervision had been followed by further incarceration.
Years after the attempted-murder convictions, another violent-crime prosecution ended with guilty pleas. On Oct. 9, 2018, Bottom pleaded guilty in Worcester District Court to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a family or household member.
Both charges arose from an offense dated March 24, 2018. Judge Robert J. Pellegrini imposed concurrent 18-month House of Correction sentences, with 69 days of credit.
Bottom filed a motion to vacate his guilty plea 10 days later. The docket does not show an order granting that request.
A separate 2018 case ended without convictions. Charges alleging assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person 60 or older and assault and battery on a family or household member, arising from an offense dated March 23, were dismissed that July.
The separate outcomes matter. The March 23 allegations were dismissed; the prosecution involving the March 24 offense produced the October guilty pleas and jail sentences.
In December 2021, Bottom pleaded guilty in Dudley District Court to assault and battery on a police officer. That case arose from an October 2020 incident in Webster.
A disturbing-the-peace charge in the same case was placed on file following a guilty plea. The docket establishes those pleas but does not provide a sentence for the police-assault conviction.
Other domestic-assault prosecutions ended in dismissal. A charge of assault and battery on a family or household member arising from October 2021 was dismissed in May 2022.
Another case alleged a subsequent offense of assault and battery on a family or household member in October 2023. That prosecution was dismissed for lack of prosecution in September 2024.
In 2025, Bottom faced two more criminal cases in Dudley District Court. The proceedings brought another revocation of pretrial release and additional guilty pleas.
The first case arose from June 26, 2025. Bottom was charged with interfering with a police officer, disorderly conduct and a subsequent offense of disturbing the peace. Judge Andrew Abdella initially released him on personal recognizance.
On Aug. 18, the court revoked his pretrial release and ordered him held without bail. The docket identifies a new criminal case arising from an alleged Aug. 15 incident as the basis for that action.
The June prosecution ended on Sept. 16, 2025. The police-interference charge was dismissed at the Commonwealth’s request.
Bottom pleaded guilty to the subsequent disturbing-the-peace offense. He also entered a guilty plea on the disorderly-conduct count, which was placed on file.
Judge John Stapleton imposed one month in the House of Correction for disturbing the peace, with 30 days of credit. That sentence followed the August order revoking Bottom’s release.
The August case initially carried five charges: assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and vandalism. Its final outcome was substantially narrower.
On May 20, 2026, Bottom pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct before Judge Gerald A. Lemire. The other four charges were dismissed at the Commonwealth’s request, including both assault charges and the vandalism count.
By June 3, court records showed that the remaining fees had been paid and no further events were scheduled. The prosecution ended with a disorderly-conduct conviction, not convictions for the dismissed assault or property allegations.
Roughly four months after that guilty plea, Bottom was arrested in the Worcester crash. The new complaint now joins a history of convictions, treatment orders, probation violations and additional incarceration.
At the Sept. 24 arraignment, Ritter released Bottom on personal recognizance. The docket records the decision and the bail revocation warning but does not provide a detailed explanation of the release.
Bottom’s prior convictions are established in the court record. The new allegation remains unresolved: police say he drove into a parked vehicle while impaired, and he has pleaded not guilty. He is scheduled to return to Worcester District Court on Nov. 13.
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Laura Soukkavong, DeJaune Jones, and Serenity Jones contributed to this story.