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Offering some guidance on various principles of Tort Claims Act immunity, a state appellate panel has reinstated a lawsuit filed against Jersey City police officers over allegedly leaving a drunken motorist with a broken down car on a bridge, where he was eventually ran over and killed.

Appellate Division Judges Joseph Yannotti, Edward Hoffman and Heidi Currier ruled in a per curiam opinion that officers Leon Tucker and Saad Hashmi weren't immune from liability under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act. In doing so, the panel reversed the lower court's order of summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

The lawsuit was filed by the family of Hiram Gonzalez, 31, of Spring Lake, who was struck and killed in the early morning hours of Aug. 3, 2014, on the Lincoln Highway Bridge, where Gonzalez was involved in an accident, according to the court and media reports.

Officers responded to the call and helped Gonzalez move his damaged truck to the shoulder of the road, according to the court. They asked Gonzalez if he wanted a ride to a nearby Shell station, but he declined, saying, "I'm not riding with no Jersey City cops," the decision said.

Gonzalez told the police he'd wait for a ride from an acquaintance. The police waited with him for 20 minutes and left. The officers claimed Gonzalez did not appear to be intoxicated at that time, but an autopsy revealed that at the time of the call, Gonzalez's blood-alcohol level was two-and-a-half times the legal limit, the court said.

Another 20 minutes later, Gonzalez was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle while he was 900 feet away from the Shell station.

Gonzalez's family sued, claiming failure to render assistance. The lower court granted summary judgment in favor of the officers based on various immunity provisions of the TCA granting immunity for such activities as exercising judgment or enforcing the law. The judge below was Hudson County Superior Court Judge Joseph Isabella, according to electronic court records.

The Appellate Division panel on April 17 reversed.

"The trial court misapprehended the law in its grant of summary judgment to defendants. Here, because the officers were called to the scene of a motor vehicle accident, the officers' duty was ministerial in nature — they had a ministerial duty to render assistance to Gonzalez. A public employee is not immunized under the TCA if he or she was negligent in carrying out a ministerial duty," the appeals court said.

"The record reflects multiple disputed issues of material fact regarding the manner in which the officers executed their duty, precluding the entry of summary judgment," the court said.

"For the reasons stated, the immunities under N.J.S.A. 59:2-3(a), 59:2-4, 59:3-2(a) and (d), 59:3-3, 59:3-5, 59:5-4 and 59:5-5 are not available to defendants," the panel added.

Lawrence Minasian of Greenberg Minasian in West Orange represents the plaintiffs and did not respond to a request for comment.

Jersey City also did not respond to a request for comment.