The undercover NYPD officer who allegedly killed a man after throwing a water cooler at him as he fled a drug bust on a scooter has been charged with manslaughter.
Sergeant Erik Duran, 36, was also charged with assault and negligent homicide, according to police.
Duran was suspended days after the incident that occurred on August 23, when he allegedly hit 30-year-old Eric Duprey with a water cooler as he tried to run away on his motorcycle to avoid narcotics officers.
Sergeant Duran was working undercover at the Bronx Narcotics Division at the time, running a buy-and-bust operation on Aqueduct Avenue. Police say Duprey sold drugs to the plainclothes officer, who then tried to arrest him.
Due to the fatal blow of the cool box – which was filled with soft drink cans – the suspect lost control of his scooter and crashed into a parked Jeep. The father-of-three then fell to the ground and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Duran was arraigned on Tuesday and bail was set at $150,000 or partially secured bond.
Sergeant Erik Duran, 36, was charged in court Tuesday with manslaughter after allegedly killing a man with a water cooler in August
Eric Duprey, 30, died after being hit by a cooler thrown by NYPD Sergeant Erik Duran, 36, on August 23
Pictured: the cooler that Sergeant Duran allegedly threw at Duprey
A group of NYPD officers were seen outside the Bronx courtroom Tuesday in support of Duran.
Members of the Black Lives Matter Greater New York gathered and sang in support of Duprey before entering the courtroom.
DailyMail.com contacted the NYPD for comment, but they declined to provide one.
CCTV footage shows the moment the cooler hit the man on Bronx Street.
An image obtained by DailyMail.com showed the red cooler with a white handle being lobbed at Duprey during the drug bust.
The NYPD said in a statement: “The NYPD is committed to ensuring that there is a full, thorough and transparent investigation into this incident to determine the facts and take the appropriate steps forward.”
Medical examiner officers ruled Duprey’s death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
A group of NYPD officers were seen outside the Bronx courtroom Tuesday in support of Duran
You can see the red cooler lying on the ground on the sidewalk
A 42-year-old man whose cooler was used during the ordeal spoke out NYDailyNews: ‘(Eric) was on his bike and riding north when the police started chasing him.
“Then he made a U-turn and drove onto the sidewalk.
“The officer then grabbed my cooler, which was filled with soda cans and water bottles, and hit him.”
Witnesses described a family celebration taking place nearby – and the children were ‘almost paralyzed by what they saw’.
They continued, “I think he died the moment he fell to the ground because there was no movement. The police tried to perform CPR, but that didn’t help.’
Jose Colon, the dead man’s stepfather, denounced police for the actions.
He said: ‘Why couldn’t the officer use any device he had permission to use? Why did he hit him with an icebox? What happened to the officer’s Taser?’
Duprey’s widow, Orlyanis Velez, added: “We received no information. I’m scared because (the police) are acting like nothing happened.”
Erika Duprey Soto, his sister, said, “It’s crazy that the officer threw a cooler at him. He worked as a delivery driver for Uber, Doordash. He used the same scooter he was riding yesterday when he was attacked for the deliveries.”
Vincent Vallelong, chairman of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said ABC : ‘Sgt. Duran made a split-second decision based solely on his concern for the safety of others. Now he has become the latest victim of a justice system that treats honest, hard-working officers as criminals and criminals as victims.”
Duran, a 13-year veteran of the NYPD, joined the Bronx Narcotics Unit in September 2022.
According to his disciplinary record, Duran was in first place last year for allegedly abusing his authority during an arrest. The Civilian Complaint Review Board said these claims were “substantiated.”
Sources also said this NBC New York that Duprey had two previous arrests for assault and drugs.
Velez said her husband should still be alive and she wants Duran in jail.
“He’s still home, he’s still seeing his family,” she said.
Duran is due back in court on April 18 and could face the “maximum penalty on the top charge is 25 years in prison.”