NYPD sergeant who hurled cooler at suspect found guilty of manslaughter
A New York police sergeant has been found guilty of second-degree manslaughter for killing a fleeing suspect after throwing a cooler at him.
NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran was convicted by Bronx Supreme Court Judge Guy Mitchell on Friday in the death of Eric Duprey, 30, during the August 2023 incident.
Duran, 38, faces up to 15 years in prison and will be sentenced on March 19. He was also facing a criminally negligent homicide charge, but it was waived.
The judge, who heard closing arguments on Tuesday, granted $300,000 cash bail, which Duran has until Feb. 10 to post to remain out of custody before sentencing.
Duran pleaded not guilty in his bench trial. There was no jury, just a judge hearing arguments and rendering the verdict.
Judge saw video of fatal police encounter
The fatal incident happened when police were trying to arrest Duprey for a drug deal in the Bronx when he took off on a motorized scooter down the sidewalk. Duprey, a father of three, had just sold drugs to an undercover officer and was fleeing arrest, police said at the time.
Video shows Duran hurling a picnic cooler at Duprey's head to try and get him to stop.
Duprey, who was going 30 miles per hour and not wearing a helmet, then swerves and slides under a vehicle. He later died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Sergeant testified in his defense
Duran testified that he was trying to protect fellow officers, but Judge Mitchell ultimately ruled he had not done so appropriately.
The sergeant said that Duprey was going to crash into 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.
Duran's lawyers argued he did not know whether the cooler was full when he threw it. They said Duprey died because of a "series of bad choices," including selling drugs, driving an illegal motorbike and driving on the sidewalk.
The defense 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.
Prosecutors told the judge that Duran was trying to "save an arrest," not lives, since Duprey was not an imminent threat. They argued it would have been more reasonable to yell "Look out!" or "Watch out!"
"This defendant's actions were reckless, unreasonable, unnecessary. They were criminal," prosecutors said.
N.Y. attorney general's statement
After the verdict was read, Duprey's wife stood next to a cardboard cutout of her late husband.
"I have no words to tell you right now," Orlyanis Velez said. "Three years waiting for justice."
"A court in the Bronx said Black lives matter," said Hawk Newsom, co-founder of BLM Greater NY.
The case was prosecuted by New York Attorney General Letitia James' office.
"Though it cannot return Eric to his loved ones, today's decision gives justice to his memory," James said in a statement.