An NYPD sergeant was convicted of manslaughter Friday for fatally hurling a drink cooler at a scooter-riding suspect leaving the scene of a chaotic undercover drug sting in the Bronx.
Sgt. Erik Duran, 38, was found guilty of causing the Aug. 23, 2023, death of Eric Duprey — becoming the first NYPD officer found guilty of a crime for killing someone while on duty in a decade.
Judge Guy Mitchell announced the verdict Friday afternoon inside a courtroom packed with Bronx cops on one side of the gallery, and a mix of Duprey’s relatives, friends and activists on the other side of the room. Court officers formed a wall in the aisle to separate the two sides.
The guilty verdict comes after Duran took the stand in his own defense and claimed to have thrown the full Igloo cooler to protect other officers he said Duprey was zooming toward on the motorized scooter.
“I thought he was going to kill my guys,” Duran testified during the three-week Bronx Supreme Court trial.
After being struck in the arm by the cooler, Duprey crashed into a tree and was flung from the bike, cracking his head on the pavement and dying almost immediately on impact.
Duran had opted for a bench trial, decided by a judge rather than a Bronx jury.
Prosecutors from New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office had argued that Duran was criminally reckless, pointing the judge to the video showing Duprey pick up the cooler with both hands and chuck it at the fleeing Duran.
“It is such a gross deviation from the standard of care that you would expect from a reasonable person,” said prosecutor Joseph Bianco during closing arguments.
Duran faces up to 15 years in prison at his sentencing.
He was the first NYPD officer to go on trial for killing someone on duty since a 2015 law came on the books requiring the State Attorney General’s Office to probe deaths at the hands of police.
The last officer to be convicted for an on-duty killing was Peter Liang, a rookie cop who in 2016 was found guilty of manslaughter for fatally shooting unarmed Akai Gurley in a darkened public housing stairwell.
Liang was sentenced to five years of probation and 800 hours of community service.