A man who was fleeing a drug bust on a scooter in the Bronx, New York City, has died after an undercover police officer threw a cooler at him.
Eric Duprey was attempting to get away when he crashed to the ground just after 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday – and now NYPD Sergeant Erik Duran has been suspended while cops investigate his involvement in the fatal incident.
Sergeant Duran was working undercover on the Bronx Narcotics Division at the time, conducting a buy-and-bust operation on Aqueduct Avenue. According to police, Duprey sold drugs to the plain-clothed cop, who then tried to arrest him.
Duprey, 30, quickly fled the situation, at which point the cop threw a cooler at him – which he had snatched from a bystander who was on the street with his family.
The fatal impact from the cooler – that was filled with soda cans – caused the suspect to lose control of his scooter and strike a parked Jeep.
Father-of-three Duprey fell to the ground, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sergeant Duran was suspended early on Thursday morning.
CCTV footage shows the moment that the cooler hit the man on the Bronx street.
An image obtained by DailyMail.com showed the red cooler with a white handle that was lobbed at Duprey during the drug bust.
The NYPD said in a statement: ‘Early today, New York City Police Department Sergeant Erik Duran was suspended from duty without pay following a fatal incident in the Bronx on Wednesday afternoon involving a man attempting to flee from the police on a motorcycle.
‘The city’s medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
‘The New York State Attorney General’s Office is leading the investigation into this incident with the assistance of the New York City Police Department’s Force Investigation Division.
‘The NYPD is committed to ensuring that there will be a full, thorough, and transparent investigation of this incident to determine the facts and to take the appropriate steps forward.’
A 42-year-old man, whose cooler was used during the ordeal, told NYDailyNews: ‘[Eric] was on the bike, moving north when the cops started chasing him.
‘Then he took a U-turn and was riding on the sidewalk.
‘The cop then took my cooler, which was filled with soda cans, water bottles, and hit him.’
Witnesses described how there was a family party occurring close by – and the children were left ‘almost paralyzed by what they saw.’
They continued: ‘I think he died the moment he fell on the ground, because there was no movement. The cops tried doing CPR but that did not do any good.’
Jose Colon, the dead man’s step-dad, slammed the police for the actions.
He said: ‘Why couldn’t the cop use any piece of equipment which was authorized for him to use? Why did he hit him with a cooler? What happened to the cop’s Taser?’
Duprey’s wife Orlyanis Velez added: ‘We were given no information. I am scared as (police) are acting as if nothing happened.’
Erika Duprey Soto, his sister, said: ‘It’s crazy that the cop threw a cooler at him. He used to work as a delivery man for Uber, Doordash. He used the same scooter for deliveries that he was riding yesterday when he was attacked.
‘He’s gone. I loved my brother to death.’
According to public records, officer Duran joined the force in 2010 and has faced 17 accusations of wrongdoing over his career.
Only one, for an unnecessary stop, was substantiated. Duran also made 197 arrests during his role at the NYPD.
He has been suspended without pay.
Duran was reprimanded by his colleagues. According to the NYDN, a police official said: ‘The use of force here is not consistent with our guidelines.
‘We don’t train officers to pick up something and throw it at a suspect.’
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Life of this young man is precious. His death is unjustified and nothing can bring back him to life. So Sad.
David.
Um, no. Take down drug dealers any way possible. He dealt the hand
If you resist arrest and don’t follow their orders you get what you deserve. If you think you were wronged, take it up in court. May even get a monetary judgement. Bottom line is don’t resist. Criminals always do.
He played his hand when he took off, unfortunately he died . + He will never sell drugs again, Should have worn a helmet