NYPD officer convicted of manslaughter for throwing cooler at suspect

NEW YORK — A New York City police sergeant was convicted of manslaughter Friday for the 2023 death of a suspect who crashed a scooter after the officer hurled a plastic cooler at him during a chase.

Erik Duran, 38, was found guilty in the death of Eric Duprey. The incident occurred in August 2023 as Duprey attempted to flee on a scooter along a Bronx sidewalk following an alleged $20 undercover drug sale.

The conviction marks the first time in a decade that an NYPD officer has been found guilty of a killing committed while on duty, according to the New York Post. Duran faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The case was prosecuted by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James. Duran waived his right to a jury trial, opting instead for a bench trial where a judge determined the verdict.

Surveillance video of the encounter showed Duran picking up a red cooler and throwing it at Duprey’s head from close range. The impact caused Duprey to lose control of the vehicle, leading to his death.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 19. Following the verdict, Duprey’s family expressed relief, while police union officials labeled the conviction an "injustice."

The conviction of NYPD Sergeant Erik Duran marks a rare judicial milestone, underscoring the formidable evidentiary hurdles inherent in prosecuting law enforcement officers in the United States. As the first conviction of an on-duty officer in New York City in a decade, the verdict highlights the rigorous standards of proof required to secure a guilty plea in cases of police misconduct.

In a departure from standard procedure for high-profile criminal cases, the verdict was rendered by Judge Guy Mitchell in a bench trial rather than by a jury. This legal strategy is frequently utilized by defense teams in police-involved incidents, predicated on the assumption that a professional judge will provide a more clinical, objective assessment of the law, shielded from the emotional volatility often present in jury deliberations.

The existence of clear surveillance footage proved to be the decisive factor, effectively narrowing the scope of factual dispute. This follows a broader national trend in which digital forensics and high-definition video have become the linchpins of police accountability litigation.

Furthermore, the case illustrates a significant shift in the institutional landscape of oversight. The prosecution was led by the New York State Attorney General’s office rather than a local District Attorney, a procedural shift mandated by a 2015 state law. This policy was designed to mitigate potential conflicts of interest, addressing concerns that local prosecutors, who rely on daily cooperation with police departments, might be hesitant to pursue aggressive charges against those same officers.

The polarized reaction to the verdict—met with relief by the victim's family and sharp condemnation by police unions—reflects a persistent and deep-seated national fracture regarding the legal boundaries of the use of force and the mechanisms of state-level oversight.

While this incident may not directly affect the specific priorities of the Vietnamese-American community—such as F2B or EB-5 visa processing—it is part of a larger national conversation on police accountability and criminal justice reform. Across our Little Saigons, small business owners in the nail salon and phở industries hold a range of views on law enforcement, navigating the same balance between public safety and civil rights as the rest of the country.