Erik Duran, the NYPD sergeant accused of throwing a cooler at a man during a drug bust and killing him, unnecessarily used force to salvage an arrest gone wrong, the state attorney general’s office argued during opening statements at his trial in the Bronx on Wednesday.
Attorney General’s Investigative Counsel Angel Chiohh said Duran was “flustered” because the operation “wasn’t going according to plan.” She said the sergeant grabbed a heavy cooler, filled nearly to the brim with drinks, and recklessly threw it at Eric Duprey, causing his death.
“Mr. Duprey was not a threat to life,” Chiohh said. “No one was in danger of dying that day. No one should have died that day.”…