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Wounded Flier's Tale Hard To Pin Down

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2007

Video: William Notaro Treated By Paramedics
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LARGO - A Clearwater man's claim that he got on an airplane with three gunshot wounds was significantly cast into doubt Monday as investigators found it impossible to corroborate most of what he told authorities.

"Our investigators are not able to confirm most of this guy's story," including whether he was even shot in Pinellas County before he boarded a US Airways flight at Tampa International Airport on Saturday at 7 p.m., Pinellas sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said.

William J. Notaro Jr., 37, apparently didn't even give authorities his right address. Sheriff's reports have him living at 115 Belleair Place in Clearwater, an apartment complex, but the leasing office said he hasn't lived there for months.

While on the flight, Notaro reportedly asked a flight attendant if he could have a Band-Aid for a gunshot wound, but the bleeding became obvious when Notaro changed planes in Charlotte, N.C., authorities said.

He was treated at Carolina Medical Center before resuming his flight to Albany, N.Y. A woman who answered a phone number listed under the name William Notaro Sr. declined to comment.

Notaro claimed he was wounded by a woman at a card game at the Windemere Apartments, 1763 Main St., Dunedin. Officials at Windemere declined to comment.

"Whatever happened is different from what he told us happened," Bordner said. "The information he has provided us hasn't panned out to be accurate."

"At this point, investigators are focusing on his injuries, what his injuries are, how he was injured and whether or not a crime occurred," Bordner said.

In Pinellas sheriff's records, Notaro's name comes up in a September domestic dispute involving a woman at a different apartment in Dunedin, but no one was injured or harmed, and no one was arrested, sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said.

In general, shooting victims are not required to cooperate with authorities, nor are they typically charged if they choose not to identify their shooter.

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