news-record.com

RALEIGH (MCT) — The plastic surgeon accused of second-degree murder in Friday's fatal collision that ended the life of an aspiring professional ballerina spent that afternoon playing golf at Raleigh Country Club before going to a North Raleigh tavern.

Raymond D. Cook, 42, a physician who surrendered his medical license Tuesday, was at the country club in Southeast Raleigh for at least 4 1/2 hours before he ended up at Piper's Tavern and Restaurant, where owners say he was refused service after stumbling in the dining room.

Larry Lakins, the developer with whom he had a 1:10 p.m. tee time, offered few details about the golf outing other than to say he and Cook parted ways at 5:30 p.m.

It was unclear whether Cook stayed at the club and consumed alcohol after his golf partner left. Club employees referred questions to managers, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Billy McGee and Jimmy Powers, owners of Piper's, the North Raleigh tavern, said Cook appeared to be intoxicated when he arrived at their bar on Falls of Neuse Road about 7 p.m. Friday.

Cook is accused of driving drunk and, at 85 mph, crashing his Mercedes-Benz into the back of the Hyundai that Elena Shapiro was driving on Strickland Road less than three miles from Piper's.

On Tuesday, after police upgraded charges against Cook to second-degree murder, Powers said a Piper's tavern manager refused to serve alcohol to the doctor after he stumbled.

Powers said a tavern manager followed Cook out the front door after that and asked him whether he needed her to arrange transportation for him to get home safely.

The doctor told the manager he had a ride and got on a cell phone, Powers said.

A short time later, according to Powers, Cook came back inside the tavern and sat at a table with a woman. The manager on duty refused to serve him any more alcohol, according to Piper's owners.

''The woman told my manager, 'Well, we paid for those drinks,' " Powers said. "Then she asked, 'Can we take these drinks with us?' "

Powers said the manager would not let them take the drinks with them, citing state ABC laws.

Tavern employees said the doctor went out the back door with the woman a short time later, about 8:15 p.m. Powers said he did not know who the woman was.

Police continue to investigate the incident and have released few details.

Meanwhile, Cook's colleagues and patients offered words on his behalf Wednesday.

Dr. Edward Farrior, a plastic surgeon in Tampa, Fla., runs the practice where Cook did a fellowship after medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill and after his residency at Duke University.

''He was exemplary here," Farrior said. "He had no trouble down here. I never saw him as a drinker beyond the social stuff."

Farrior said in April he was in North Carolina and played golf with Cook. Farrior said he did not see any signs of alcohol abuse.

''We played 18 holes of golf and might have had two beers," Farrior said.

Robert Waldrum, a Raleigh resident and patient of Cook's, said he could not have imagined the images of his physician in the orange-and-white jail jumpsuit on newspaper front pages and TV screens.

''I would never have thought he was an individual with alcohol problems," Waldrum said. "The man I know wasn't this demon. ... He's a good guy. He's part of the reason I'm alive today."