An NYPD sergeant was charged Tuesday with second-degree manslaughter in the August death of a scooter-riding drug suspect who crashed after the cop threw a cooler at him .
Sgt. Erik Duran, 36, pleaded not guilty to that charge — which carries a potential maximum sentence of 25 years in prison — as well as assault in the first and second degrees and criminally negligent homicide for the death of Eric Duprey, 30, on Aug. 23, 2023, in The Bronx.
Duran was conducting a buy-and-bust operation on Aqueduct Avenue near West 190th Street around 5 p.m. in Kingsbridge Heights when Duprey took off on a motorized scooter, said New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, which is handling the prosecution.
As Duprey made his escape, Duran grabbed someone’s cooler off a nearby table and threw it at the fleeing suspect, hitting him in the head and throwing him off balance, James’ office said in a statement.
Duprey sideswiped a tree before he was hurled from the scooter and banged his head on the curb, ultimately landing under a parked vehicle, the attorney general said.