Judge to determine if NYPD sergeant who hurled cooler at suspect is guilty of manslaughter
A judge will determine on Friday afternoon if a New York police sergeant accused of killing a man with a cooler is guilty
Sgt. Erik Duran is facing manslaughter charges in the death of Eric Duprey, 30, during an incident in August 2023.
It happened when police were trying to arrest Duprey for a drug deal in the Bronx when he took off on a motorcycle down the sidewalk. Video showed Duran, 38, hurling a picnic cooler at Duprey's head, trying to get him to stop.
Duprey swerved and slid under a vehicle. He died from blunt force trauma to the head.
On Tuesday, the closing arguments were heard.
Prosecutors say Duran's actions were criminal
Prosecutors told the judge that Duran was trying to "save an arrest," not lives, because Duprey wasn't an imminent threat.
"This defendant's actions were reckless, unreasonable, unnecessary. They were criminal," they said.
Prosecutors argued it would've been more reasonable to yell "look out" or "watch out."
Duran said he was just trying to get Duprey to stop
Duran took the stand in his own defense on Monday. He told the judge that Duprey was going to crash into the officers at the scene.
"All I had time for was to try again to stop or to try to get him to change directions. That's all I had the time to think of," he said.
The defense said the sergeant didn't know if the cooler was full or not.
They said Duprey died because of a "series of bad choices," including selling drugs, driving an illegal motorbike and driving on the sidewalk.
Duran's lawyers said other people would've been killed because of Duprey's reckless driving.
"He wasn't trying to get away. He was ambushing them," the defense said.
Duran pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges. He could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.