Ex-NYPD sergeant jailed for up to nine years over man’s death on scooter | New York

A former New York Police Department sergeant was sentenced to three to nine years in prison for throwing a picnic cooler full of ice and drinks at a fleeing suspect, who later crashed and killed him with his motor scooter.

Erik Duran, 38, was convicted of manslaughter in the death of 30-year-old Eric Duprey in 2023. The former sergeant said he was trying to protect other officers from the approaching scooter. He is the first former NYPD officer to be sentenced to prison for an on-duty death in at least two decades.

“I took this job to save lives. I felt terrible when I saw Eric Duprey crash,” Duran told a judge in the Bronx, saying he “did everything he could” to tend to the man’s injuries.

“I never meant for this to happen,” he added, apologizing to Duprey’s family in Spanish as a court interpreter translated.

Duprey’s mother, Gretchen Soto, cried as Duran spoke. He had previously told the court: “There are no words to describe what I feel.”

Judge Guy Mitchell said he did not accept the former sergeant’s argument that his actions were justified and concluded that Duran threw the cooler because he was “upset that Mr. Duprey had escaped.” The judge said that without the cooler, Duprey would have “passed” Duran and “could have been caught another day.”

Duran was taken into custody immediately after the sentence. His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said he will ask the court to release Duran on bail while he appeals.

“No one is above the law,” a woman shouted in the courthouse hallway after the sentence was announced.

Later, Soto and Duprey’s partner, Pearl Velez, said they did not accept Duran’s apology.

“How are you going to apologize now?” said Velez.

Duran’s union, the Sergeant’s Benevolent Association, said thousands of officers had signed an online petition calling for him to be spared from prison.

“Today will forever be the darkest day of our profession,” said union president Vincent Vallelong. He said Duran’s prison sentence “reminds a police officer of the idea that he could lose his freedom because he made a split-second decision.”

Officers in NYPD jackets filled the courtroom gallery, while several dozen protesters outside demanded justice for Duprey.

Duran’s maximum sentence of less than five to 15 years matched the sentence sought by prosecutors in state Attorney General Letitia James’s office. Prosecutor Joseph Bianco said the former sergeant recklessly caused Duprey’s death and tried to cover up his actions.

Defense attorney Andrew Quinn argued for no prison sentence, saying Duprey’s death was the “unintended and tragic consequence” of the “reckless decision” Duran made in two and a half seconds.

Duran grew up in the Bronx and lived an “exemplary, exemplary life” before Duprey’s death. Quinn, a married father of three, said he joined the NYPD because he wanted to make the district “cleaner and safer for the kids who come after him.”

“He’s a more even-tempered cop now,” Quinn said.

Duran was part of the narcotics police unit that conducted a take-bust operation in the Bronx on August 23, 2023. Police said Duprey sold drugs to an undercover officer and then tried to escape on a scooter.

Surveillance video showed Duprey riding the motorized scooter toward a group of people on the sidewalk. As he approached, the sergeant, who was not in uniform, grabbed a bystander’s cooler and threw it.

The container hit Duprey, who lost control of the scooter, hit a tree and hit the curb. Duprey was not wearing a helmet. He suffered fatal head trauma and died almost instantly, according to prosecutors.

They argued that Duran had enough time to warn others to move but instead threw the cooler because he was angry.

But Duran testified at his trial that he made a quick decision to protect other officers from the scooter speeding towards them.

“He was going to hit us,” Duran later said, adding: “All I had time to do was try to stop again or persuade him to change direction.”

Duran preferred to have Judge Mitchell decide the case, not a jury.

Duran had been working for the NYPD for 13 years before the accident, which led to his suspension. He was fired following his conviction in February.

Duprey was a delivery driver and had three young children. Soto, who said he had a video call with himself just before his death, disputed the police’s allegations that he was selling drugs and running away from the police.

He told the judge Thursday that his son “isn’t just another name, it’s not just another case.”

“This is an unfair incident,” Soto said through a Spanish translator. “As a mother, I have to miss him every day.”