Trial begins for NYPD sergeant Erik Druan in death of Eric Duprey

An undercover NYPD sergeant feared for his life when he made a split-second decision to throw a cooler at a scooter-riding drug suspect who then crashed and died nearly three years ago, his attorney reportedly argued as his high-profile Bronx trial kicked off Wednesday.

Sgt. Erik Duran, 38, is facing trial in Bronx Criminal Court on charges of second-degree manslaughter, assault and criminal negligent homicide for the death of Eric Duprey, 30, on Aug. 23, 2023.

During opening statements, defense attorney Andrew Quinn argued the officer feared for his life and did what “all good cops” do by stepping “toward the danger” as Duprey sped his motorcycle at 30 mph down a sidewalk toward Duran and others during a drug bust, Gothamist reported. 

“Erik Duran was given two-and-a-half seconds to make a life or death decision, and that was because of Eric Duprey’s decisions,” Quinn told Bronx Judge Guy Mitchell, who will decide the outcome of the case.

“We don’t teach officers to throw coolers, but when that is the only way to save a life, that is what they should do.”

Duran was conducting a buy-and-bust operation on Aqueduct Avenue near West 190th Street in Kingsbridge Heights when Duprey took off on a motorized scooter, according to the state attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the case.

Prosecutors said Duran grabbed a cooler off a nearby table and lobbed it at the fleeing suspect, striking him in the head before he crashed into a tree and was flung from the scooter, slamming his head on the curb.

Duprey died “almost instantaneously” from blunt force trauma to the head.

Attorney General’s Investigative Counsel Angel Chiohh told the court Duprey’s head wound was so severe, first responders found chunks of his brain smeared across the scene, the outlet reported.

“Mr. Duprey was not a threat to life,” she said, accusing Duran of choosing “violence when violence wasn’t necessary.”

“No one was in danger of dying that day. No one should have died that day.”

Chiohh charged that the Big Apple cop grew “flustered” when the operation didn’t go as planned, and recklessly chucked the heavy, full cooler to “save an arrest.”

“The defendant wasn’t scared for his life or the lives of anyone else,” Chiohh said, the outlet reported.

“He did what he did not to save lives, not because he was scared, but to save an arrest.”

Surveillance footage obtained by The Post captured the moment the white cooler struck Duprey, who was on his scooter, veering from the sidewalk into the street before tumbling from his ride as multiple bystanders surrounded him. 

Duran was suspended from the NYPD and later placed on modified duty following the fatal encounter, according to the attorney general’s office. 

Duran, who has pleaded not guilty, remained stone-faced during opening statements as his family and supporters sat behind him, while Duprey’s family and the public filled the opposite side of the packed courtroom, the outlet reported. 

A manslaughter conviction could send him to prison for up to 25 years.