Father accused of passing out while children in car

A Johnson County man is at large after Cole County prosecutors charged him with child endangerment for allegedly passing out in his vehicle at the Capital Mall.

Johnny Bernard of Centerview, Missouri, was charged Wednesday with unlawful use of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. Bond was set at $5,000.

A security guard saw Bernard with a syringe sticking out of his leg with two small children in the back seat in his vehicle in the Capital Mall parking lot at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to a probable cause statement. A police officer said Bernard’s speech was slow and he swayed while standing after he was asked to leave the car, the statement said.

Bernard admitted to having taken Dilaudid, an opioid painkiller, and the officer found what he believed to be heroin in the vehicle along with a bloody syringe, the statement says. The officer said he also found two rifles in the trunk of the vehicle. Bernard’s children said they could not wake him up, according to the statement.

Bernard was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation and his children were referred to the Division of Family Services.