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Former New York City police sergeant Erik Duran is seated during his sentencing hearing at the Bronx County Hall of Justice Thursday, April 9, 2026, New York, for tossing a picnic cooler full of drinks at a fleeing suspect, Eric Duprey, who then crashed his motorized scooter and died.<\/p>\n
Michael R. Sisak\/AP<\/p>\n
Gretchen Soto, mother of Eric Duprey, and Black Lives Matter advocate Hawk Newsome are seen outside court following the sentencing of former New York City police sergeant Erik Duran at the Bronx County Hall of Justice Thursday, April 9, 2026, New York.<\/p>\n
Michael R. Sisak\/AP<\/p>\n
FILE – New York police officer Erik Duran, who is charged with hurling a plastic cooler at a man fleeing officers on a motorized scooter, causing a crash that killed the driver, arrives to his manslaughter trial at the Bronx Criminal Court in New York, Feb. 6, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kena Betancur\/AP<\/p>\n
Demonstrators stand outside the Bronx County Hall of Justice in New York, Thursday, April 9, 2026, where former New York City police sergeant Erik Duran is set to be sentenced for tossing a picnic cooler full of drinks at a fleeing suspect, Eric Duprey, who then crashed his motorized scooter and died.<\/p>\n
David Martin\/AP<\/p>\n
FILE – Gretchen Soto, the mother of Eric Duprey, speaks outside the Bronx Criminal Court in New York, Feb. 6, 2026, after New York police officer Erik Duran was convicted of manslaughter after he tossed a picnic cooler filled with drinks at a fleeing Duprey, causing him to fatally crash his motorized scooter.<\/p>\n
Kena Betancur\/AP<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A former New York City police sergeant was sentenced Thursday to three to nine years in prison for tossing a picnic cooler full of drinks at a fleeing suspect, who then crashed his motorized scooter and died.<\/p>\n
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The ex-officer, Erik Duran, was convicted of manslaughter in the 2023 death of Eric Duprey. The former sergeant said he was trying to protect other officers from the approaching scooter.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI took this job to save lives. I felt terrible once I saw Eric Duprey crash,” Duran told the court Thursday, saying he \u201cdid everything he could\u201d to attend to the man’s injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never wanted this to happen,\u201d he added, addressing Duprey’s family directly in Spanish that a court interpreter translated.<\/p>\n
Duprey’s mother, Gretchen Soto, wept as the ex-officer spoke . She had told the court a half-hour earlier: “There are no words to express what I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Guy Mitchell said he did not accept the ex-sergeant\u2019s defense that his actions were justified.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is the court\u2019s belief that the defendant, Sgt. Duran, was upset that Mr. Duprey was getting away\u201d and reacted by hurling the cooler, Mitchell said.<\/p>\n
Duran was immediately taken into custody after sentencing. His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said he will ask an appeals court for bail pending appeal, which would allow Duran to be freed while he challenges his conviction.<\/p>\n
“Nobody\u2019s above the law\u201d a woman in the hallway outside court shouted after the sentence was announced.<\/p>\n
Afterward, Soto and partner, Pearl Velez, said they did not accept Duran\u2019s apology.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHow you gonna say sorry now?\u201d Velez said.<\/p>\n
The case has animated police on one hand and accountability activists on the other. Duran’s union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, says thousands of officers have signed an online petition calling for him to be spared prison.<\/p>\n
Officers in New York Police Department jackets streamed down a Bronx courthouse hallway ahead of the sentencing Thursday, while a couple of dozen protesters demonstrated outside to demand justice for Duprey.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors with state Attorney General Letitia James\u2019 office sought a three-to-nine-year prison sentence for Duran, saying he recklessly caused Duprey’s death.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe did that while on duty,\u201d then attempted to cover up his actions, prosecutor Joseph Bianco told the court.<\/p>\n
Duran and his lawyers had not yet had their chance to speak.<\/p>\n
Duran was part of a narcotics policing group that conducted a \u201cbuy-and-bust\u201d operation in the Bronx on Aug. 23, 2023. Police said Duprey sold drugs to an undercover officer, then tried to flee on a scooter.<\/p>\n