(PatriotPostNews.org) – A police sergeant has been charged with manslaughter, assault, and criminally negligent homicide after he tossed a cooler at a man in the Bronx in August, killing him as he was riding on a motorcycle.
Days after hitting Eric Duprey, 30, while he was running from drug officers trying to arrest him, Sergeant Erik Duran, 36, was placed on paid leave without pay.
The New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office filed the charges on Tuesday.
According to the indictment, Sergeant Duran was accused of first- and second-degree assault, criminally negligent homicide, and second-degree manslaughter. According to court documents, Sergeant Duran entered a not-guilty plea when he was charged at Bronx Criminal Court. Sergeant Duran posted the $150,000 bond amount.
At the time, undercover drug officers were operating in the vicinity of 192nd Street and Aqueduct Avenue, carrying out a “buy-and-bust” operation aimed at apprehending drug dealers. According to the police, Mr. Duprey sold cocaine to an officer, which led to other officers in the area moving in to take him into custody.
According to CCTV footage, Mr. Duprey raced off but lost control after getting hit by the cooler. He collided with a tree and a car before the bike overturned, and he fell to the ground. Four minutes later, he was declared dead.
In a statement this week, Vincent Vallelong, the head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, described the allegations as the product of “overzealous prosecutors with a political agenda.”
Outside the courthouse, Walter Newsome, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter branch in New York, was standing with Mr. Duprey’s wife. Mr. Newsome questioned Sergeant Duran’s actions, questioning why he had thrown a “40-pound cooler at someone’s head” with both hands if his intention was not to cause Mr. Duprey substantial harm.
Numerous police officers were present to assist Duran, 37, during his arraignment on counts of assault, manslaughter, and criminally negligent murder.
Duran entered a not-guilty plea to the allegations, and a $150,000 bond was established.
If found guilty, he might spend up to 25 years behind bars.
His next court appearance is set for April 18.
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