An NYPD sergeant accused of throwing a picnic cooler at a fleeing suspect that fatally knocked him off his motorcycle has been suspended without pay, officials said Thursday.

The sergeant, Erik Duran, was suspended from duty Thursday morning, an NYPD spokesperson said in a statement.

Police say a group of plainclothes narcotics officers were carrying out "buy-and-bust" anti-drug sale operations in the Bronx's 52nd Precinct around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday when they tried to arrest a 30-year-old man for selling narcotics.

The man, identified by family members and the New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation as Eric Duprey, fled on a motorcycle, and police pursued him to 2523 Aqueduct Ave., between West 190th and 192nd streets, in Fordham Manor, the NYPD said.

In the vicinity of that location, Duran threw a picnic cooler at Duprey in an attempt to stop him, according to the Office of Special Investigation, which is spearheading a probe of the incident.

That's when Duprey lost control of his motorcycle, struck a parked vehicle and fell to the ground, police said. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene around 5:35 p.m., the NYPD said.

Mourners set up a memorial for Duprey at the site where he died. The city's medical examiner will determine his cause of death, police said.

"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," an NYPD spokesperson said.

"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," the spokesperson added.