NEW YORK − A New York judge convicted a police sergeant of second-degree manslaughter for throwing a cooler at a man's headduring a fatal 2023 chase.
Bronx County Judge Guy Mitchell rendered his Feb. 6 verdict against New York City Police Sgt. Erik Duran, 38, for causing the death of 30-year-old Eric Duprey, according to New York Attorney GeneralLetitia James' office, which investigates police killings. Duprey, a delivery driver, had three children.
"I offer my sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Eric Duprey," James, whose office prosecuted the case in Bronx Criminal Court, said in a statement. "Though it cannot return Eric to his loved ones, today's decision gives justice to his memory."
James' office said the conviction carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Duran reportedly faced assault and criminally negligent homicide charges, but those were dropped in the bench trial. Duran opted for a decision by a judge instead of a Bronx jury, theNew York Post reported.
After the Feb. 6 felony conviction, the NYPD fired Duran in accordance with state law, the department said in an email. Duran, a member of an NYPD narcotics unit in the Bronx, had been suspended without pay.
Duran is the first NYPD officer in nearly a decade to be convicted for killing someone. In February 2016,Police Officer Peter Liang was convicted of second-degree manslaughterfor fatally shooting an unarmed man in a Brooklyn stairwell.
Lawyers for Duran didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Vincent Vallelong, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, an NYPD union, called the verdict a "miscarriage of justice," maintaining Duran's innocence.
"Our attorneys are reviewing all our legal options," Vallelong said in a statement. "We are confident Judge Mitchell's verdict will be overturned."
An attorney for Duprey's family didn't immediately respond to an email request for comment.
Security video released by James' officecaptured the Aug. 23, 2023, incident in the West Bronx. Footage showed Duprey attempting to flee on a motorized scooter in the Bronx before Duran, who was undercover, threw a cooler full of ice and drinks at Duprey's head. Video showed Duprey, who wasn't wearing a helmet, fall off the scooter. Duprey died minutes later.
Police said Duprey was trying to evade police on a friend's scooter after he was allegedly caught selling drugs in an undercover sting. TheNew York Times reported Dupreysold an undercover police detective $20 worth of cocaine before trying to flee on the scooter.
NYPD records show Duran first became a police officer in 2010. He rose to the rank of sergeant in 2018 and became a detective squad sergeant in 2022. Before Duprey's killing, theCivilian Complaint Review Board found Duranhad a substantiated report of abuse of authority during a January 2022 stop, about 2 miles away in the Bronx, city records show.
Duran's sentencing is scheduled for March 19, James' office said.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email atemcuevas1@usatoday.comor on Signal at emcuevas.01.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:NYPD sergeant convicted of manslaughter in cooler-throwing death
