Former NYPD sergeant sentenced to 3 to 9 years in prison for throwing cooler at suspect’s head, killing him
By Lisa Rozner
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New York (WCBS, WLNY) — Former NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran was sentenced Thursday to three to nine years in prison for throwing a cooler at a fleeing suspect who later died.
Duran, 38, was found guilty of manslaughter in February for the 2023 death of Eric Duprey. He’s the first member of the NYPD in a decade to be found guilty of causing the death of a civilian while on duty.
Duprey’s family was in tears during the sentencing. Duran apologized directly to them and asked the judge for a chance to be there for his wife and three children.
“It was unintended and tragic, but he should not spend years of his life, not even days of his life for a decision he made in 2.5 seconds. That is the very definition of excessive and disproportionate,” Duran’s lawyer said.
Prosecutors asked for him to be sentenced to three to nine years, saying he “recklessly caused the death of another human he did that while on duty there is no more serious gravity of offense than taking the life of another person.”
Duran’s lawyers are planning to file an appeal.
Black Lives Matter co-founder speaks out
Hawk Newsome, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Greater New York, spoke outside the courtroom. Behind him were many people holding picket signs in support of Duprey.
“In New York’s history, it is a very seldom occurrence that justice prevails when a cop kills a Black and brown person, but today, in the Bronx, we got it right,” Newsome said.
SBA president issues statement
The president of the Sergeant Benevolent Association, Vincent Vallelong, called Thursday a dark day.
“It wasn’t only Sgt. Duran, a great cop who was on trial. Every law enforcement officer who makes a split-second decision in the performance of their duties to protect the public was also on trial,” he said. “And this sentencing, which has now sent a very chilling message to every cop in the nation- that the system that we have sworn to uphold can single-handedly destroy your career and your life for doing exactly what you are trained to do.”
Deadly NYPD encounter
On Aug. 23 2023, Duprey allegedly sold drugs to an undercover officer in the Bronx, then fled on a motorized scooter when officers tried to arrest him.
According to authorities, 30-year-old Duprey was traveling at 30 mph, driving on the sidewalk and not wearing a helmet.
Video from the incident shows Duran throwing a picnic cooler at Duprey’s head as he flees. Duprey then swerves and slides under a vehicle. He died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Duran was suspended after the incident and later charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Manslaughter trial
During his testimony at trial, Duran said he was worried Duprey was going to crash into other officers and was trying to protect them by throwing the cooler.
Prosecutors argued Duran was trying to “save an arrest,” not lives, and called his actions “reckless, unreasonable [and] unnecessary.”
Duran was convicted of manslaughter after a bench trial, meaning there was no jury and the judge rendered the verdict.
The criminally negligent homicide charge was waived.
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