NEW YORK – Thousands of police officers worldwide have called on a New York City judge to refrain from sentencing a Big Apple cop from Mahopac to prison after being found guilty of manslaughter for killing a man with a cooler three years ago.
Sgt. Erik Duran, 38, faced manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges in the death of Eric Duprey, 30, during the August 2023 incident.
Duran had pleaded not guilty in the bench trial, meaning there was no jury with a judge hearing arguments and rendering a verdict.
Duran faces up to 15 years in state prison when sentenced Thursday by Bronx Criminal Court Judge Guy Mitchell.
However, the judge has received a petition signed by some 11,000 officers from around the globe calling for a ‘non-incarceration’ sentence.
The petition argued that Duran ought not to be penalized for a decision made in an instant. “As law enforcement officers we cannot be expected to effectively do our jobs while knowing that a good faith decision made in a rapidly evolving situation might cost us our freedom. The job of protecting the public is inherently dangerous and carries with it unforeseen risks,” says the petition.
Prosecutors say Duran’s actions were criminal, describing them as “reckless, unreasonable and unnecessary.”
Duran, who took the stand in his own defense, told the judge that Duprey was going to crash into the officers at the scene.
His attorneys said other people would have been killed because of Duprey’s reckless driving.
Duran was the first NYPD officer to go on trial for killing someone on duty since a 2021 law came on the books requiring the State Attorney General’s Office to probe deaths involving police officers.
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