Former NYPD sergeant sentenced to prison for throwing cooler at suspect's head in the Bronx

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 in the Bronx. 

Duran is the first member of the NYPD in a decade to be found guilty of causing the death of a civilian while on duty. 

"I'm really sorry for the loss of your child"

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.

Duran spoke to Duprey's mother in Spanish. 

"I'm really sorry for the loss of your child. I never wanted this to happen," Duran said through tears. 

"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. 

"How you gonna say sorry now?" 

Duprey's family burst out of the courtroom with relief. 

"How you gonna say sorry now? You don't say sorry since the beginning," Duprey's girlfriend Orlyanis Velez said. "He's in jail, and I'm happy. I can sleep now. I can go home and tell my kids we got justice."

About the sentence

Duran will serve a minimum of three years in prison. If he's denied parole, he may serve up to nine years.   

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."

The judge said he imposed the sentence in part because he "did not see any justification" in Duran throwing the cooler to protect himself and other officers. The judge said Duprey could have been caught another day. 

Vincent Vallelong, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, disagreed. 

"What the judge said upstairs, he could be caught later, or at a different time - what happens if that person goes out and commits a homicide, or a rape? That's not the case with this, but when you have cops start thinking the other way, we're going to be in a lot of trouble in this city," Vallelong said. 

Duran's lawyers are planning to file an appeal, and are asking that Duran be released on bail in the meantime. They said 11,000 law officers from across the country signed a petition calling for Duran to be spared prison. 

Conflicting views of the sentence

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. 

"I am beyond flabbergasted," attorney Arthur Aidala said. "I think it's a horrible sentence. As I said, if he was a civliian under the same exact set of circumstances ... I don't think he would be charged." 

"Every law enforcement officer ... was also on trial"

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."

Vallelong said the SBA will do all it can to support Duran and his family throughout his appeal. 

The deadly 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.