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NYPD sergeant didn't need to kill man with cooler during Bronx drug bust, prosecutors say
By
Samantha Max
Published Jan 14, 2026
Modified Jan 14, 2026
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Samantha Max / Gothamist
By
Samantha Max
Published Jan 14, 2026
Modified Jan 14, 2026
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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.”
Duran is the first NYPD officer to stand trial for killing someone on duty since a 2021 law requiring the attorney general's office to investigate killings by law enforcement went into effect, a spokesperson for the office said. Duran has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault in Duprey's death. Bronx Justice Guy Mitchell will decide the outcome of the trial, rather than a jury.
Duran’s defense attorney Andrew Quinn argued in his opening statement that Duran was, in fact, afraid for his life. He said Duprey was riding a motorcycle on the sidewalk at 30 mph and was about to crash into Duran and others.
“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 said.
On Aug. 23, 2023, Duran was working with fellow Bronx narcotics detectives to conduct undercover drug purchases and arrest sellers, Chiohh said in her opening statement. The group had already made several arrests at three different locations when they decided to continue their operation at a new spot on Aqueduct Avenue, she said.
Officers were trying to arrest another man when Duprey got on a motorized scooter and fled, first on the street and then on the sidewalk, according to the attorney general's office. Chiohh said the officers then realized they were arresting the wrong person and tried to stop Duprey. As Duprey attempted to get away, she said, Duran grabbed a nearby cooler and heaved it at him, hitting him in the head and leading him to lose control of the scooter.
Duprey hit a tree, fell off the bike, cracked his head open and died “almost instantaneously,” the prosecutor said, adding that first responders found pieces of his brain matter splattered around him.
Chiohh said Duran “chose violence when violence wasn’t necessary” and was not justified in using deadly force.
“The defendant wasn’t scared for his life or the lives of anyone else,” she said. “He did what he did not to save lives, not because he was scared, but to save an arrest.”
Quinn said his client did what “all good cops” do and “stepped toward the danger” to preserve life.
“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,” Quinn said.
Throughout the opening statements, an expressionless Duran looked ahead. His relatives and supporters filled the seats behind him, while members of Duprey’s family and the public packed the other side of the courtroom.
Surveillance video captured the fatal encounter. The NYPD suspended Duran without pay after the incident and later placed him on modified duty, according to the attorney general’s office.
Gretchen Soto, Eric Duprey’s mother, second from right, says she wants justice for his death outside a Bronx courthouse on Wednesday
Samantha Max / Gothamist
Gretchen Soto, Duprey’s mother, was the first witness to testify. In Spanish, she said she learned of her son’s death through a phone call. She said looking at photos of his body in an autopsy was “horrible,” then wiped a tear from her eye.
Outside the courthouse, Soto said that she misses her son very much.
“He was a human,” she said softly. She wore a necklace with a tiny image of Duprey. “We only want justice.”
Surveillance video captured the fatal encounter. The NYPD suspended Duran without pay after the incident and later placed him on modified duty, according to the attorney general’s office. The NYPD said Duran is now suspended with pay. Civil service law only allows unpaid suspensions for up to 30 days.
Tagged
bronx
nypd
public safety
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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