MATTAPOISETT, Mass.- A neighbor dispute that allegedly escalated over the past year preceded a fatal shooting in Mattapoisett that left a 57-year-old man dead, prosecutors said.
A 33-year-old Fairhaven man, Nicholas Bottella, has been arraigned on a murder charge in connection with the incident and is being held without bail, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and the Mattapoisett Police Department. He pleaded not guilty in Wareham District Court on July 1.
Authorities said Bottella is charged with first-degree murder, along with firearm-related offenses and motor vehicle violations, including discharge of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, carrying a loaded firearm, trespass, failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, speeding, failure to stop or yield, and marked lanes violations.
The shooting occurred at about 3 p.m. on June 30 at a residence on Harbor Road in Mattapoisett.
The victim, identified as 57-year-old James Rizza, was found severely injured in his driveway with multiple gunshot wounds. Mattapoisett police provided aid before Rizza was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 3:40 p.m.
Investigators said a witness called 911 reporting that a man driving a red vehicle was involved in the shooting. Officers located a red sedan matching that description at a nearby intersection and attempted a traffic stop.
According to prosecutors, the driver, later identified as Bottella, refused to stop and led police on a pursuit that ended near Front Street in Marion after the vehicle was boxed in by Mattapoisett police cruisers. Bottella was taken into custody at the scene. A passenger in the vehicle was taken to the Mattapoisett Police Department for questioning.
Investigators with the Massachusetts State Police and local agencies later determined Bottella and Rizza had been involved in a neighborhood dispute about a year before the shooting, prosecutors said.
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