Family calls for justice after Eric Duprey dies during NYPD encounter in the Bronx
NEW YORK -- We're hearing from the family of a man who died after an NYPD sergeant allegedly hit him with a cooler.
The officer has been suspended, but the family wants justice.
Two days after what happened to Eric Duprey, the circumstances of what led up to his death are no easier to fathom for family members.
"Why you gotta kill him?" Duprey's wife Orlyanis Velez said.
Police said Bronx narcotics officers were doing an undercover drug bust on Wednesday when they said Eric Duprey, 30, was caught dealing and drove off on a gas-powered motorcycle on the sidewalk. Sgt. Erik Duran was down the block. Video allegedly shows him throwing a cooler at Duprey, who lost control, fell and hit his head on the ground, killing him almost instantly.
Duran has since been suspended as the incident is investigated.
"Seeing the video, it's kind of unnerving," David Sarni said.
Sarni is a retired NYPD detective and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, after 27 years in the NYPD working narcotics operations similar to Wednesday's.
"I can't say one way or another if it's right or wrong," Sarni said. "I've done cases, operations, takedowns where we've done things that are very unorthodox."
"Sometimes it's not easy to take somebody down. They don't want to go gentle into the good night and get arrested. So force may be used," he added.
Sarni said it's standard to have undercover officers a block or two away during a drug bust, given the chances of a suspect running away.
"I just want justice for my brother. I want the cop to pay for what he did," Duprey's brother Ryan said. "He didn't even identify himself when he tried to do that. Didn't show his badge. Nothing. He just did what he did. And left."
Duprey's brother says witnesses heard Duran say after the incident that it was an accident.
Velez also responded to the NYPD sergeant's suspension.
"He's suspended, but he's still home. He still see his family. He still see his kids. My kids don't see his father. I don't want him outside. I want him in jail," Velez said.
State Attorney General Letitia James' office is investigating the incident.
