An NYPD sergeant pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to charges that he killed a Bronx man last year during what police said was an attempted drug arrest.
State prosecutors charged NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault in the first and second degree.
State Supreme Court Justice George Villegas set Duran’s bail at $150,000, sparking murmurs from police officers filling the courtroom gallery. It was unclear whether he immediately posted bail. His next court date is set for April 18.
The New York attorney general’s office is legally required to investigate whether a police officer caused someone’s death by an act or by omission under a 2021 law. This is the first time an NYPD officer has been indicted for killing someone while on-duty since that law was passed.
Surveillance video from the August incident shows Duran, who was dressed in plain clothes at the time, throwing a picnic cooler at Eric Duprey, 30, who was riding a motor scooter.
According to a statement by Attorney General Letitia James's office, Duprey then sideswiped a tree before he was thrown from the scooter. He hit his head on the curb, landed under a parked vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said. The city’s medical examiner ruled Duprey's death a homicide.
Police say the incident happened while officers were trying to arrest someone for a $20 sale of crack cocaine, though an NYPD spokesperson would not say at the time whether the person they were trying to arrest was Duprey or someone else.
Duran, who joined the NYPD in 2010, worked in the specialized Bronx narcotics unit. The NYPD temporarily suspended him without pay and he has since been re-deployed to the Manhattan North Detective unit, according to police records.
Duran's lawyer Andrew Quinn vigorously defended his client’s actions in court on Tuesday.
Eric Duprey was killed during a police chase in 2023.
“Eric Duprey is dead because of Eric Duprey’s actions,” Quinn said.
“Knowing he couldn’t shoot [Duprey] because he was going too fast,” Quinn said Duran used the tool he had at his disposal and added that Duran was “unequivocally” justified in his actions.
Vincent Vallelong, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said the union strongly backs Duran.
"The message that was sent today is pretty clear," he said. "The top law enforcement office in New York State would rather prosecute members of law enforcement than career criminals. As a result, we have emboldened criminal activity across our communities."
Jonathan Roberts, the Dupreys' lawyer, said the family was encouraged by the case's progression when he was reached by phone on Tuesday morning.
About 100 police officers attended the Bronx court hearing on Tuesday morning.
Duprey's family and a small group of protesters chanted outside court on Tuesday. His wife Orlyanis Velez wore a T-shirt bearing his picture.
“What human being in their right mind who doesn’t intend to seriously injure or kill someone picks up a 40 pound cooler with both hands and slams it into a person’s skull?” said Hawk Newsome, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Greater New York.
Mayor Eric Adams declined to speak extensively about Duran’s arrest at a news conference on Tuesday.
“That’s not a policy we use,” he said of the cooler throwing when asked for comment.
Chris Dunn, legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said it’s “very unusual” for a police officer to be indicted for an on-duty killing.
“Oftentimes, the information about what actually happened is not publicly released or is distorted by police departments,” he said. “Prosecutors' offices work closely with police departments, and therefore they’re very reluctant to pursue prosecutions.”
In 1977, Thomas Ryan became the first NYPD officer to be convicted of committing homicide while on duty. He was convicted of criminally negligent homicide for beating a man to death inside a police precinct, the New York Times reported at the time.
Twenty years later, NYPD officer Paolo Colecchia became the second. He was convicted of second-degree manslaughter for shooting an unarmed man in the back on a Bronx subway platform, the New York Times reported at the time.
Four officers indicted in the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo faced a range of charges, including second-degree murder and criminally negligent homicide. They were acquitted of all charges in 2000. The NYPD promoted one of the officers, who fired five of the 41 shots at Diallo, to sergeant 15 years later, the New York Daily News reported.
This story has been updated with additional information.
