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Erik Duran, a former NYPD sergeant, has found himself at the center of public attention after being sentenced to several years in prison for the death of a suspect on the run. His defense attorney in New York has expressed being “completely overwhelmed” by the outpouring of public support Duran has received after what many deem a contentious trial.
Earlier this year, Duran was found guilty of manslaughter in a bench trial related to the death of Eric Duprey.
“As a criminal defense attorney, it’s not common to witness such a strong community backing,” said Arthur Aidala, Duran’s lawyer, to Fox News Digital. “The sheer number of people voicing their disagreement with the verdict and the sentence, and their eagerness to support Sgt. Duran, has been both remarkable and unique.”
Captured during his arraignment at the Bronx Hall of Justice on January 23, 2024, Duran faced charges connected to the tragic incident involving Eric Duprey in August 2023, during an undercover drug operation. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News via Getty Images)
According to the defense, Duprey was attempting to flee a drug sting on a motorized scooter, heading towards several civilians and police officers, when Duran, in a bid to halt him, threw an Igloo cooler borrowed from a bystander.
He was going close to 30 mph and put the pedestrians at risk of severe injury and possibly death, a defense expert testified at trial. Duran threw the cooler to prevent anyone else from being hurt, according to the defense.
It knocked Duprey to the ground. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. And he suffered a fatal head injury.
Eric Duprey died in August 2023 when an NYPD officer threw a cooler at him as he was fleeing a drug operation in the Bronx. (WNYW)
Duran’s supporters allege that Duprey was a known member of the Trinitarios gang — which has been blamed for machete attacks in the Bronx in the past.
Prosecutors from New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office had requested a five-to 15-year sentence.
Judge Guy Mitchell sentenced him to three to nine years in prison last week, drawing political attention and prompting New York’s Republican candidate for governor, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, to vow to pardon him on his first day in office if he defeats Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in November.
“I back the blue — that’s why Nassau County is the safest county in the nation,” Blakeman told Fox News Digital. “Meanwhile, in Kathy Hochul’s New York, a police officer is headed to prison while criminals get second chances. That’s backwards, and it will change when I’m governor.”
Attorney Arthur Aidala gestures at the Manhattan criminal court in New York on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Mitchell rejected Duran’s argument that the cooler throwing was justified in order to protect other people from harm and said the sentence would serve as a “general deterrent” for other officers.
“It is such a unique set of circumstances, I don’t know what example it could set except to deter cops from doing the best they can,” Aidala told Fox News Digital. “This wasn’t a routine traffic stop or they were chasing someone and this is gonna deter them from handling a stop a certain way.”
Duran didn’t intend to use lethal force, he said, arguing that’s why he improvised with the cooler rather than drawing his gun.
“They’re telling cops don’t throw a cooler at a guy on a motorcycle on the sidewalk in the middle of the afternoon next to a park going 30 miles an hour after they just committed a felony or a drug sale,” he said. “I don’t know who it’s setting an example to.”
Duran is seeking an appeal, and Aidala said he asked an appellate judge on Friday to release his client on bail while that proceeds. Oral arguments are expected later this week.
Vincent Vallelong is the president on the NYPD’s Sergeant’s Benevolent Association, and the union continues to support Duran, he said.
“The SBA’s focus at this time is to get this horrific injustice overturned before the November elections,” he said. “The silence from many of our elected officials is just as disturbing as the message the judge handed down last week.”
The union and the National Police Defense Foundation have teamed up to raise money for Duran’s appeal through a Kindful campaign, he added.
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