US EditionTrial Begins for NYPD Sergeant Charged with Killing Man During Botched Arrest in Bronx
Sergeant Erik Duran faces manslaughter and assault charges for throwing a cooler that killed Eric Duprey during a 2023 drug arrest, marking the first on-duty NYPD officer trial under a new law.
- On Jan. 14, 2026, a bench trial opened in Bronx court as NYPD Sergeant Erik Duran faced manslaughter charges over the Aug. 23, 2023 death of 30-year-old Eric Duprey after prosecutors said Duran threw a cooler at the fleeing suspect.
- During the Bronx narcotics operation, undercover Bronx narcotics detectives made arrests at three locations when Eric Duprey fled on a motorized scooter on Aqueduct Avenue in University Heights.
- Surveillance and court video show Duran grabbed a white plastic cooler and forcefully threw it, striking Eric Duprey's head, causing him to crash into a tree where first responders found blunt force trauma and brutal head injuries.
- Duran faces up to 25 years, with Duprey's family and Black Lives Matter protesting and the state attorney general's office prosecuting the first on-duty officer trial since the 2021 AG review law.
- Prosecutors argued the state attorney general's office says Duran unnecessarily used violent, deadly force, while Andrew Quinn said Duran acted in two-and-a-half seconds fearing for his life; Bronx Justice Guy Mitchell will decide the bench trial.
7 Articles
7 Articles
Cooler fatally thrown at fleeing Bronx drug suspect was filled with juice, ice: witness
A cooler used by a cop to knock a fleeing drug suspect off his scooter in the Bronx before he crashed and died was filled with juice and ice for kids having a picnic, the cooler’s owner said Thursday. The cooler that Sgt. Erik Duran used in a desperate effort to subdue Eric Duprey, 30, was heavy enough that the undercover cop needed both hands to lift it and toss it at the fleeing suspect, a witness testified during Duran’s trial on manslaughter…
Killed by a cooler? Ex-NYPD sergeant's manslaughter trial begins in deadly cooler toss
Wednesday marked the start of the trial against a former NYPD sergeant who is accused of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a man in the Bronx in August 2023. Erik Duran allegedly threw a cooler at Duprey while he was riding his scooter on a sidewalk during an anti-narcotics operation in the University Heights area of The Bronx. The prosecution claims the police were attempting to arrest Duprey for drug trafficking when he fled on the side…
Death threat? Black Lives Matter activist says plainclothed cop threatened to kill him outside Bronx court during sergeant’s murder trial – amNewYork
Black Lives Matter founder Hawk Newsome and several eyewitnesses alleged that a plainclothed officer in the Bronx had threatened to kill the activist outside a Bronx court on Wednesday afternoon. The incident took place outside of the trial of Sergeant Erik Duran, who himself was accused of throwing a cooler at a fleeing suspect in 2023. The victim, Eric Duprey, died, and the case prompted a round of protests demanding that Duran be prosecuted. …
Trial begins for NYPD sergeant accused of fatally hurling water cooler at fleeing suspect during Bronx drug bust
Sgt. Erik Duran, 38, is currently on trial in Bronx Criminal Court after being charged with second-degree manslaughter, assault and criminal negligent homicide for the death of Eric Duprey, 30, on Aug. 23, 2023.
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