New York — A former New York City police sergeant is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for throwing a bomb The coolness of the picnic filled with drinks on the fleeing suspect, who then crashed his motorcycle and died.
The former officer was Eric Duran He was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Eric Dupree in 2023. The former sergeant, who said he was trying to protect other officers from an approaching scooter, faces up to 15 years in prison.
This case aroused the enthusiasm of the police on the one hand and accountability activists on the other. Doran’s union, the Sergeants’ Benevolent Association, says thousands of officers have signed an online petition calling for him to be spared from prison. Meanwhile, dozens of protesters demonstrated outside the Bronx courthouse on Thursday to demand justice for Dupree.
Duran was part of a police narcotics group that conducted a “buy and bust” operation in the Bronx on August 23, 2023. Police said Dupree sold the drugs to an undercover officer, then tried to flee on a motorcycle.
Surveillance video showed Dupree drives the motorized scooter down the sidewalk toward a group of people. As he approached, the then-sergeant, who was not in uniform, picked up a bystander’s cooler and threw it.
The container filled with ice, water and soft drinks hit Dupree. He lost control of the scooter, hit a tree and hit the sidewalk.
Dupree, 30, was not wearing a helmet. He held out Fatal head injuries She died almost instantly, according to prosecutors in the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
They argued that Duran had enough time to warn others not to move, but instead threw the cooler because he was angry.
But turnover to attest He made a split-second decision to keep the other officers safe from the scooter speeding towards them.
“He was going to crash into us,” Duran said in court, adding that “all I had time to do was try to stop again or try to convince him to change direction.”
He testified that he immediately tried to help Dupree after seeing the accident and the extent of the man’s injuries.
Duran chose to have a judge, not a jury, decide the case. Judge Guy Mitchell found him guilty, saying his status as a police officer had “no bearing” on the case.
But Sergeants’ Benevolent Association president Vincent Vallelong said the conviction sent a “terrible message to hardworking cops” about the costs of defending themselves and their fellow officers.
Duran was an officer with the New York Police Department for 13 years before he was suspended after the incident. He was dismissed from the force after his conviction last February.
Dupree worked as a delivery driver and had three young children. His mother, who said she was on a video call with him just before his death, He disputed the police claims He sold drugs and ran from officers.
John Roberts, the Dupree family’s attorney, said they “hope the court will bring justice to Eric and the loss to the entire family, and we hope this marks the beginning of the healing process.”