NEW YORK CITY — Former New York City police sergeant Erik Duran was sentenced on April 9, 2026, to three to nine years in prison for manslaughter in the 2023 death of Eric Duprey. Duran was immediately taken into custody after the sentencing.

Duran was part of a narcotics policing group that conducted a buy-and-bust operation in the Bronx on Aug. 23, 2023. During the operation, Duprey was driving a motorized scooter on a sidewalk toward a group of people when Duran, who was not in uniform, picked up a bystander's picnic cooler full of drinks and threw it at the fleeing suspect. The cooler struck Duprey, causing him to lose control of the scooter, slam into a tree and crash onto the pavement. Duprey, who was 30 and not wearing a helmet, sustained fatal head injuries and died almost instantly.

Duran testified during the trial that he made a split-second decision to keep other officers safe from the scooter speeding toward them. "I took this job to save lives," he told the court Thursday.

Judge Guy Mitchell said he did not accept Duran's defense that his actions were justified. Mitchell said Duran hurled the cooler because he was upset that Duprey was getting away. Prosecutors with the state Attorney General's office had sought a three-to-nine-year prison sentence, saying Duran recklessly caused Duprey's death. Prosecutor Joseph Bianco said Duran attempted to cover up his actions after causing the crash.

Duran served as a New York City police officer for 13 years before he was suspended after the crash and dismissed from the force following his conviction. His attorney, Arthur Aidala, said he will ask an appeals court for bail pending appeal, which would allow Duran to be freed while he challenges his conviction.

Officers in New York Police Department jackets streamed down a Bronx courthouse hallway ahead of the sentencing, while a couple of dozen protesters demonstrated outside to demand justice for Duprey. The Sergeants Benevolent Association said thousands of officers had signed an online petition calling for Duran to be spared prison.

Inside the courtroom, Gretchen Soto addressed the court before the sentence was imposed. "There are no words to express what I feel." Pearl Velez also spoke during the proceedings. "How you gonna say sorry now?" Velez said.