{"id":100274,"date":"2026-01-14T18:13:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T18:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/100274\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T18:13:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T18:13:30","slug":"nypd-sergeant-didnt-need-to-kill-man-with-cooler-during-bronx-drug-bust-prosecutors-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/100274\/","title":{"rendered":"NYPD sergeant didn’t need to kill man with cooler during Bronx drug bust, prosecutors say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erik Duran, the NYPD sergeant accused of throwing a cooler at a man<\/a> during a drug bust and killing him, unnecessarily used force to salvage an arrest gone wrong, the state attorney general\u2019s office argued during opening statements at his trial in the Bronx on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Attorney General\u2019s Investigative Counsel Angel Chiohh said Duran was \u201cflustered\u201d because the operation \u201cwasn\u2019t going according to plan.\u201d She said the sergeant grabbed a heavy cooler, filled nearly to the brim with drinks, and recklessly threw it at Eric Duprey, causing his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Duprey was not a threat to life,\u201d Chiohh said. \u201cNo one was in danger of dying that day. No one should have died that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duran is the first NYPD officer to stand trial for killing someone on duty since a 2021 law requiring the attorney general’s office to investigate killings by law enforcement went into effect, a spokesperson for the office said. Duran has pleaded not guilty<\/a> to charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault in Duprey’s death. Bronx Justice Guy Mitchell will decide the outcome of the trial, rather than a jury.<\/p>\n

Duran\u2019s defense attorney Andrew Quinn argued in his opening statement that Duran was, in fact, afraid for his life. He said Duprey was riding a motorcycle on the sidewalk at 30 mph and was about to crash into Duran and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cErik Duran was given two-and-a-half seconds to make a life or death decision, and that was because of Eric Duprey\u2019s decisions,\u201d Quinn said.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 23, 2023, Duran was working with fellow Bronx narcotics detectives to conduct undercover drug purchases and arrest sellers, Chiohh said in her opening statement. The group had already made several arrests at three different locations when they decided to continue their operation at a new spot on Aqueduct Avenue, she said.<\/p>\n

Officers were trying to arrest another man when Duprey got on a motorized scooter and fled, first on the street and then on the sidewalk, according to the attorney general’s office. Chiohh said the officers then realized they were arresting the wrong person and tried to stop Duprey. As Duprey attempted to get away, she said, Duran grabbed a nearby cooler and heaved it at him, hitting him in the head and leading him to lose control of the scooter.<\/p>\n

Duprey hit a tree, fell off the bike, cracked his head open and died \u201calmost instantaneously,\u201d the prosecutor said, adding that first responders found pieces of his brain matter splattered around him.<\/p>\n

Chiohh said Duran \u201cchose violence when violence wasn\u2019t necessary\u201d and was not justified in using deadly force.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant wasn\u2019t scared for his life or the lives of anyone else,\u201d she said. \u201cHe did what he did not to save lives, not because he was scared, but to save an arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinn said his client did what \u201call good cops\u201d do and \u201cstepped toward the danger\u201d to preserve life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t teach officers to throw coolers, but when that is the only way to save a life, that is what they should do,\u201d Quinn said.<\/p>\n

Throughout the opening statements, an expressionless Duran looked ahead. His relatives and supporters filled the seats behind him, while members of Duprey\u2019s family and the public packed the other side of the courtroom.<\/p>\n

Surveillance video captured the fatal encounter. The NYPD suspended Duran<\/a> without pay after the incident and later placed him on modified duty, according to the attorney general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n