Cooler-Tossing NYPD Sergeant Faces Manslaughter Charge In Fatal Throw

NEW YORK CITY — An NYPD sergeant who threw a cooler at and caused a scooter rider's fatal crash has been indicted, prosecutors said.

Erik Duran, 37, appeared in a Bronx courtroom Tuesday for arraignment on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Eric Duprey.

Duprey died last summer after Duran, an undercover drug cop, tossed a cooler at him that hit him in the head as he tried to speed off from an arrest, a grand jury indictment released by state Attorney General Letitia James states.

"My prayers are with Eric Duprey's family," James tweeted after Duran's arraignment.

The indictment alleges that on August 23, 2023, in the Bronx, Sgt. Duran forcefully threw a cooler at Eric Duprey as he was driving a motorized scooter, causing Mr. Duprey’s death.

My prayers are with Eric Duprey's family.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 23, 2024

Duran, who has been placed on modified duty, pleaded not guilty before his release on a $150,000 bond.

The incident unfolded Aug. 23 about 5 p.m. when Duran and other narcotics cops made an undercover drug buy between West 190th and 192nd streets in The Bronx, authorities said.

The cops ran across Duprey and tried to arrest him, but he sped off on a scooter down 190th Street, prosecutors said.

Duran then grabbed a cooler off a nearby table and threw it at Duprey, officials said.

The cooler's impact caused Duprey to lose control of his scooter, sideswipe a tree and hit his head on a curb before he died, authorities said.

James' office took over the case, as it does with any that involves the NYPD's use of force.

Mayor Eric Adams, during a Tuesday news conference, directed questions about it to James.

But the mayor did note one thing about NYPD policies.

"That's not a policy that we use, of throwing the cooler," he said.