What to Know
- Eric Duprey was fleeing the Bronx scene on a motorized scooter in 2023 when then-NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran threw a picnic cooler with drinks at him in an effort to get him to stop, officials have said.
- Duprey lost control of the scooter, slammed into a tree, and crashed onto the pavement. He hit his head, and wasn’t wearing a helmet. Duprey died almost instantly. He was 30 years old.
- His death was ruled a homicide, and Duran was arrested on multiple charges. He testified that he made a split-second decision to keep officers safe from the scooter that was speeding at them.
- Duprey was a delivery driver with three young kids. His mother, who said she was on a video call with him right before he died, disputed the police claims that he sold drugs and fled from officers.
- In February, Duran was convicted of manslaughter, becoming the first on-duty NYPD officer in a decade to be found guilty of killing a civilian. He faces up to 15 years at sentencing.
A former NYPD sergeant faces up to 15 years at his sentencing Thursday for tossing a picnic cooler full of drinks at a fleeing suspect, who then crashed his motorized scooter, hit his head on the curb, and died.
The ex-officer, Erik Duran, was convicted of manslaughter in the 2023 death of Eric Duprey, becoming the first on-duty NYPD officer in a decade to be found guilty of killing a civilian. The former sergeant, who said he was trying to protect other officers from the approaching scooter, faces up to 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors have recommended up to nine years, while the defense has requested no jail time. Advocates are expected to rally ahead of the sentencing.
The case has animated police and activists alike. Duran’s union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, says thousands of officers have signed an online petition calling for him to be spared prison.
Meanwhile, a small group of activists demonstrated outside a Bronx courthouse earlier this week to push for the maximum sentence, the Daily News reported.
Duran was part of a narcotics policing group that conducted a “buy-and-bust” operation in the Bronx on Aug. 23, 2023. Police said Duprey sold drugs to an undercover officer, then tried to flee on a scooter.
Surveillance video showed Duprey driving the motorized scooter on a sidewalk toward a group of people. As he approached, the then-sergeant — who wasn’t in uniform — picked up a bystander’s cooler and threw it.
The container full of ice, water, and sodas struck Duprey. He lost control of the scooter, slammed into a tree, and crashed onto the pavement.
Duprey, 30, wasn’t wearing a helmet. He sustained fatal head injuries and died almost instantaneously, according to prosecutors with New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office.
They argued that Duran had enough time to warn others to move, but instead hurled the cooler because he was angry.
Duran, however, testified that he made a split-second decision to keep other officers safe from the scooter speeding toward them.
“He was gonna crash into us,” Duran said in court, adding that “all I had time for was to try again to stop or to try to get him to change directions.”
He testified that he immediately tried to help Duprey after seeing the crash and the extent of the man’s injuries.
Duran opted to have a judge, not a jury, decide the case. Judge Guy Mitchell found him guilty, saying that his status as a police officer “has no bearing” on the case.
But Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vincent Vallelong has said the conviction sent “a terrible message to hard-working cops” about the costs of defending themselves and fellow officers.
Duran was an NYPD officer for 13 years before he was suspended after the crash. He was dismissed from the force after his conviction this past February.
Duprey worked as a delivery driver and had three young children. His mother, who said she was on a video call with him right before he died, disputed the police claims that he sold drugs and fled from officers.
A lawyer for Duprey’s family, Jon Roberts, said they are “hopeful that the court will do justice for Eric and the loss that the entire family has endured and hope that this marks the beginning of the healing process.”
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