Delray doctor accused of drugging woman's drink at Boca bar

BOCA RATON — A Delray Beach doctor accused of slipping drugs into a woman's drink at a Boca Raton bar has been arrested on a poisoning charge, city police records show.

Dr. Mircea Albin Morariu, 50, of Boca Raton was booked early Tuesday into the Palm Beach County Jail on a charge of poisoning food or drink with the intent either to kill or injure someone. His attorney, Guy Fronstin, said Tuesday that the arrest report is "one-sided" against his client, whom he describe as "a highly trained neurologist."

Circuit Judge Dina Keever-Agrama ordered that Morariu be held in the jail until he can be placed into a treatment facility. It was not immediately clear what type of treatment he would undergo. However, Keever-Agrama stressed that Morariu only would be released from the jail to an in-patient treatment center, and that if he does not remain at the center, he will be booked back into the county jail and held without the possibility of posting bond.

Records indicate that on the night of Sept. 10, Morariu met up with a woman at Ouzo Bay, a Greek restaurant in Mizner Park. The two had known for nearly two decades, the woman told authorities, and they were meeting to discuss his recent engagement.

Morariu arrived first, she said. They ordered food and drinks. After they got a second round of drinks, the woman stepped away from the bar to use the restroom. That's when Morariu allegedly pulled a bag of white powder out of his back pocket and poured it into the woman's martini glass, according to the arrest report.

Morariu pushed her drink toward her when she returned and seemed to have moved her water glass out of her reach, she told police. He encouraged her to finish her alcoholic beverage. When Morariu eventually left the bar to go to the restroom, a Boca Raton police officer approached the woman. Someone at the bar had seen Morariu pour a powder in her drink and had alerted restaurant staff, who then called police, the officer said.

The woman told police she was "shocked" about the allegation. Officers encouraged her to go to Boca Raton Regional Hospital to be checked out by medical staff.

Officers stopped Morariu as he was walking out of the restroom. He denied putting anything in the woman's drink and refused to answer officers' questions. They found a bag with a white powder residue in it in the bathroom trash can. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office technicians determined the bag had traces of Zolpidem, a sedative often sold under the name of Ambien, and Alprazolam, a drug used to treat anxiety and panic disorders often sold under the name Xanax. Zolpidem residue was found at the bottom of the martini glass.

Authorities also determined that the woman had low levels of cocaine, as well as alcohol, Zolpidem and Alprazolem, in her system.

Records indicate that Morariu was arrested Monday night at The Woods Jupiter, Tiger Woods' restaurant in Harbourside Place. Jupiter police did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the arrest.

Morariu works as a neurologist at Florida Neurologic Center in Delray Beach, according to the practice's website. He told police he worked at Delray Medical Center, though it was not immediately clear in what capacity. Someone who answered a call to the office Tuesday said they would not be commenting about Morariu's arrest. Florida Department of Health records indicate his medical license is active and that he has not been disciplined during his nearly two decades practicing medicine in Florida.

The practice's website indicates that Morariu attended medical school at the University of Miami and currently works as a voluntary assistant professor of neurology. He was born in Romania and moved to Boca Raton with his family as a teenager, according to the website.