‘NO MOVEMENT’

Suspect Fleeing on Scooter Dies After NYPD Cop Hurls Picnic Cooler at Him

“We don’t train officers to pick up something and throw it at a suspect,” a NYPD official clarified.

A man fleeing a New York City drug sting was killed after a police sergeant threw a plastic picnic cooler at his scooter, causing him to crash, authorities said. The sergeant, Erik Duran, was suspended without pay after the Wednesday evening incident in the Bronx, police said. Surveillance video obtained by The New York Daily News shows the suspect, identified by police as Eric Duprey, 20, driving his scooter towards a group of people when one of them—a man in plainclothes—picks up an object and lobs it at him. Duprey loses control of his vehicle, falling off as it skids into the street. Police said the 20-year-old was pronounced dead moments later. An eyewitness who said a “cop” had grabbed his picnic cooler said that people at the scene were “almost paralyzed by what they saw. 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.” A police official told the newspaper that Duran had acted outside of police guidelines. “We don’t train officers to pick up something and throw it at a suspect,” they said. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office has opened an investigation into the matter.