Man Dies After Being Found in Bathtub : Accident: The mentally disabled victim reportedly had a history of seizures, police say.

COSTA MESA — A 30-year-old mentally disabled man died late Thursday night after he was found in a bathtub at a private group care facility, police said.

Mark Barrett, who reportedly had a history of seizures, was discovered unconscious in the bathtub about 9 p.m. by one of his roommates, police said. He was living in an apartment in the 2500 block of Santa Catalina Drive with five other disabled people and two staff members.

Barrett was taken to College Hospital Costa Mesa, where he was pronounced dead about 9:30 p.m., hospital administrator Susan Whitten said.

Police termed the death accidental and have not launched an investigation, police Sgt. Mike Millington said.

The apartment where Barrett lived is run by Riverside-based Independent Options Inc., which offers room and board for developmentally disabled people who do not require intensive care at a large-scale institution.

Such group homes do not require a license, said state Community Care Licensing Supervisor Barbara Gossett.

Gossett added that there appeared to have been no other problems at the apartment, located in a complex adjacent to Fairview Developmental Center. She said there are no violations on record at the state agency.

Independent Options President P. Dennis Mattson did not return phone calls Friday.

Barrett was living at the Costa Mesa apartment under a contract with the San Gabriel-Pomona Regional Center in West Covina, officials said. Judith Poindexter, executive director of the regional center, declined to provide any background about Barrett, citing confidentiality laws.

Nor was it clear how long Barrett had lived in the Costa Mesa apartment.

The apartment is part of the 568-unit Harbor Village Apartments. The management leases several apartments to Independent Options and a similar operation, Project Independence, said Barbara Dovala, a leasing consultant for Harbor Village.

Fairview Developmental Center spokesman Jim Edward said the group home is a “private enterprise with no direct connection to Fairview.”

The Independent Options apartment is one of hundreds of such private group homes in Orange County, said Don Sizemore, a spokesman for Developmental Disabilities Center in Orange.

The group homes are organized to enable residents to gain confidence in living outside institutions, such as the San Gabriel-Pomona Regional Center or the Fairview Developmental Center.

“As far as I know, they (Independent Options) have a long positive history of providing care,” Sizemore said.

Police said that Barrett went to take a bath sometime before 9 p.m. A roommate later went to check on him, and found him floating in the filled tub.

There was vomit in his windpipe, and his heart had stopped, police Sgt. Karl Schuler said, adding that Barrett was taking medication and had a history of seizures.

Coroner’s office spokesman Bruce Lyle said an autopsy was conducted Friday but the cause of death is inconclusive. He said toxicology results would not be available for at least 10 weeks.