An NYPD sergeant on Friday was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter after throwing a cooler at a fleeing suspect’s head, killing him, last summer.
Sgt. Erik Duran, 38 was the first active member of the department to be prosecuted in more than a decade. His bench trial in Bronx Supreme Court began Jan. 14 before Judge Guy Mitchell.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office conducted an investigation that led the prosecution over the Aug. 23, 2023, killing of 30-year-old Eric Duprey, who all parties acknowledged was caught by Duran selling drugs.
Prosecutors say Duran then hurled the cooler at Duprey out of frustration that the drug bust went awry, while defense attorneys framed the act as an attempt to protect pedestrians from Duprey as he rode away on a motorized scooter.
Duran will be sentenced on March 19. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. His bail was set at $300,000 bond or $500,000 partially secured bond.
“I offer my sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Eric Duprey,” James said in a statement Friday. “Though it cannot return Eric to his loved ones, today’s decision gives justice to his memory.”
Duran, who lives in Putnam County, was on duty as a member of the NYPD Narcotics Borough Bronx Tactical Response Unit.
In response to the verdict, Vincent Vallelong, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, criticized the finding and said he expects it to be overturned.
“Today’s verdict was a miscarriage of justice. We vigorously maintain Sergeant Duran’s innocence. The verdict rendered by Judge Mitchell is clearly against the weight of the credible evidence. Verdicts such as this send a terrible message to hard-working cops: should you use force to defend yourself, your fellow police officers or the citizens of the City, no matter how justified your actions, you risk criminal charges and conviction,” Vallelong said in a statement Friday.
He said defense attorneys are reviewing all legal options.
“We are confident Judge Mitchell’s verdict will be overturned,” he said.
Trial in the Bronx
While demonstrators outside the Bronx Hall of Justice rallied to demand a conviction against Duran, attorneys last month delivered opening statements telling two different versions of the events that transpired in August 2023.
Angel Chiohh of the Attorney General’s Office said police had arrested the wrong man and Duprey was attempting to escape astride a motorized scooter.
“It wasn’t an accident, because the act of picking up a loaded cooler requires a lot of strength, and the subsequent act of heaving that cooler at somebody’s head with such force that it knocks them off a scooter, crashing into the street and dying, requires a lot of force,” Chiohh told Judge Mitchell on Jan. 14.
Following the hit, Duprey swerved off the road and hit a car with enough force that it shook “violently,” Chiohh said, and when the suspect hit the ground, his brain matter was left spilled on the concrete. He had multiple skull fractures, bleeding in his brain and injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, the state attorney said.
“It was not an injury that someone should survive,” Chiohh said.
Defense attorney Andrew Quinn characterized Duran as a hero who used his own body to guard pedestrians from Duprey.
“He had a choice: Jump out of the way, save himself — whatever happens to the guys behind me is not my fault — or take action,” Quinn said. “The only thing available to him, because there was a table next to him, was a cooler. He hadn’t touched it before, he’d never seen it before.”
Quinn said Duran wasn’t trying to block Duprey from escaping when he threw the cooler, which contained ice and drinks.
“The issue isn’t that he used a cooler; the issue is whether he was justified in using the force,” Quinn said. “My client used force to protect lives. That is what we ask our police officers to do.”
