SALEM, Mass. (AP) — A judge has refused to dismiss a negligence lawsuit against a Massachusetts restaurant for its alleged role in an attack on a police officer who had a piece of her ear bitten off.

The Salem News reports that the judge last week found that Salem's Tavern in the Square could be liable for Officer Jessica Rondinelli's injuries because she was acting as a rescuer when she arrested a 19-year-old woman who had been drinking at the establishment. That woman was convicted of assault and battery for biting the officer's ear. The judge concluded that a jury could find that the situation was created by the restaurant.

The decision means that the case can proceed to trial.

Rondinelli was attempting to put 19-year-old Emma Wiley of Marblehead into a police cruiser following her arrest outside Tavern in the Square on Aug. 7, 2016, when Wiley lunged forward and bit down on the rookie officer's ear.

The judge's decision notes that the attack on the officer came after Wiley was served "a large amount of alcohol" inside the restaurant, caused a disturbance, poured a drink over the head of a man, then smashed a glass on the floor. Once escorted outside of the bar, Wiley tackled another man, then got into a fight with a woman, before Rondinelli and Patrolman Robert Monk arrived.