Man Flees After Holding Gun on Sheriff ‘s Deputy : Violence: Police seek fugitive who shot out squad car tire and later tied up a Newport Beach woman in her home and stole her car.

An armed, well-dressed man threatened to kill a sheriff’s deputy Monday when she approached his car, then shot out her tire and fled to a house in Newport Beach, where he tied up a woman and escaped in her car.

Officers from several agencies were looking for the man and the stolen white Mustang on Monday night and warn that he is dangerous.

“We are not asking members of the public to try and engage or stop this person,” Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Martini said, “because he is carrying two weapons and is extremely dangerous. We caution anyone that if they do see him or his vehicle to notify police.”

Monday’s events started when neighbors in the 2200 block of Redlands Drive, about two miles southwest of John Wayne Airport, called sheriff’s deputies about a suspicious man who had been sitting in a dark green car with the engine running for more than two hours.

Witnesses described him as white, in his 40s, wearing gray pants and a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt and a tie. He has light gray hair with a receding hairline and a pencil-thin mustache.

“According to neighbors, the guy had been slumped over the seat, but would sit up and then slump back down again,” Martini said.

A deputy arrived at about 1:35 p.m. and parked behind the suspect’s car on the cul-de-sac.

She approached and tapped on the driver’s closed window. He unbuckled his seat belt and came out in a “crouched position,” with a blue steel revolver in his hand shielded by a briefcase in his left hand, Martini said.

“At this time, the deputy reached for her weapon, but he had the drop on her,” Martini said. “He shouted, ‘Don’t do it. I’ll shoot you in the head. I just want to get out of here.’ The deputy then reached for her (radio) microphone on her shoulder but he stopped her and said, ‘I’ll shoot. Don’t do it.’ ”

Martini said the man then fired shots into the deputy’s front tire.

A videotape from the camera mounted on the deputy’s car captured the entire two-minute incident. It shows the suspect, after shooting the tire, walk back to his car, pick up his briefcase and drive away.

Resident Carol Hamilton said she had been watching since the deputy knocked on the window of the parked car.

She said the man “came out of the car with his gun drawn, backed her up and took her gun. Then he went to the front of her vehicle and shot the front right tire.”

Another resident, Hazel Penfold, 89, who had called police initially, said the deputy “was pretty shaken up.”

The deputy was not injured. Sheriff’s officials declined to release her name but said she has been a deputy for seven to eight years.

The suspect fled in a dark green Pontiac Grand-Am, which had been stolen in a robbery in West Los Angeles on March 31, police said.

Less than an hour later, the suspect pulled into the driveway of a home on Santiago Drive in Newport Beach, about a mile from Redlands Drive.

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said the suspect knocked on the front door and asked the woman who answered if he could use her telephone because he had an emergency.

When she told him she would make the call for him, he pulled his gun and forced his way in, Gonis said. Police declined to identify the victim.

“He tied her up and left her lying on the floor,” Gonis said. “He left his car in the garage and took her white Ford Mustang and some jewelry and other things.”

She called police about 15 minutes later, after untying herself, police said.

The public is urged to contact Orange County sheriff’s office at (714) 647-7055. The Mustang’s California license number is 1NAE345.