Green

Plaintiffs,. the surviving husband and children of

Marcelina Green, appeal from a judgment sustaining without leave to amend the City of Livermore’s (City) demurrer to their second amended complaint.

Viewing the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, as we must (Dailey v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist. (1970) 2 Cal.3d 741, 745 [ 87 Cal.Rptr. 346 , 470 P.2d 360 ]), the following facts appear: On August 11, 1977, several City police officers, acting in their official capacities as employees of the City, stopped a Ford automobile belonging to Jones and Hardgraves. All three occupants of the car, Jones, Hardgraves and Noble, were intoxicated. Hardgraves was driving the vehicle along public roads in the City. The officers arrested Hardgraves for drunk driving (Veh. Code, § 23102) and resisting arrest (Pen. Code, § 148) and took him into custody. At the time of his arrest, Hardgraves did not have possession of the car keys. However, the officers did not arrest either Jones or Noble and left them with the Ford without disabling or impounding it. The officers also did not remove any keys from the Ford. Shortly thereafter, Noble drove the Ford, struck the Green…