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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bond is set at $20,000 for a 38-year-old man who police say was found passed out with a syringe in his hand, with three children, ages four, two and three-months, old in the backseat.

The suspect is Jacob Palmer, a Kansas City, Mo., firefighter, who was hired in January 2003.

Palmer is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and possession of a controlled substance.

According to court documents, on St. Patrick’s Day at about 4:00 p.m., a woman was driving behind a truck on North Oak Trafficway near 32nd Street, when she noticed the man was driving erratically. The truck then came to a stop in the left lane of 9-Highway and did not move for an extended period of time. The woman says she noticed the driver had passed out with several children in the back.

She called police and when they arrived on the scene, they say they found Stevens slumped over unconscious in his truck. He was reportedly drooling from his mouth and had a syringe in his hand. They also say they saw a metal spoon with brown, burnt residue on the center console next to Palmer. They noticed a bib with blood on it.

Palmer was taken to the hospital because his pulse was irregular and weak and police say he appeared to be ‘yellowish’. The children were cared for until their mother could arrive and take custody of them.

Police collected the brown substance and say tests show it is heroin.

Police say Palmer told them he purchased the bluish/brownish liquid from a party in Kansas City, believing it was oxycodone in liquid form. According to the probable cause document, Palmer told police he has been addicted to oxycodone for approximately three years.