Police Want You To See This Couple Passed Out on Heroin in Car With 4-Year-Old

EAST LIVERPOOL, OH — "Warning Graphic Content!" is how the East Liverpool Police Department opens its Facebook post showing a Sept. 7 police report and photos of a couple passed out in a car after using what the police say is heroin.

Even more tragic: The photos reveal there is a young child in the car.

"We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug," reads the Facebook post. "This child can't speak for himself but we are hopeful his story can convince another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody. We are well aware that some may be offended by these images and for that we are truly sorry, but it is time that the non-drug using public sees what we are now dealing with on a daily basis."

You can view the photos at the bottom of this article, but police are right — they may be disturbing to some people. Patch has blurred out the child's face in the photos.

According to the police report, on Wednesday, East Liverpool Police officer Kevin Thompson approached a dark Ford Taurus with West Virginia plates that he had observed driving erratically. After the suspect came to a sudden stop in front of a school bus with children exiting, the officer approached the vehicle.

Thompson made contact with the driver who was later identified as James Acord. Acord's head was bobbing back and forth, and his speech was almost unintelligible. The officer also noted that Acord's pupils were constricted to pinpoints.

Thompson asked the driver what was going on and was able to make out that he was taking the female passenger, Rhonda Pasek, to the hospital. Pasek was completely unconscious with a small fold of paper between her legs. A third passenger, a 4-year-old boy, was in the backseat. The 4-year-old was later identified as the son of Rhonda Pasek.

The driver eventually passed out, and Thompson noticed the passenger began turning blue. Thompson contacted EMS and attempted to keep Pasek's airway clear. When EMS arrived, they administered several rounds of Narcan to reverse the effects of a possible opiate overdose.

The couple regained consciousness and were transported to East Liverpool City Hospital for evaluation. The folded up piece of paper found between Pasek's legs contained a powdery substance and was sent to a lab for analysis, police said.

Acord has been charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, endangering children, and slowing or stopping in a roadway. The boy's mother, Pasek, has been charged with endangering children, public intoxication, and not wearing a seat belt.

Pasek's 4-year-old boy has been turned over to the custody of Columbiana County Children's Services.

Here are the photos:

Image by Psychonaught [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons