Police Arrest Suspect in Incident Videotaped by Deputy’s Camera : Crime: ‘I’ve got things to live for,’ a parolee with a handgun tucked in his pants says as he surrenders at a Westminster motel.

WESTMINSTER — The man suspected of holding a gun to an Orange County deputy’s head this week and threatening to kill her was arrested at a motel Friday, surrounded by more than 20 officers, including the deputy who had been threatened.

James J. Hunt, a 41-year-old parolee with a handgun tucked into his pants, surrendered without incident, saying, “I’ve got things to live for.”

Because he also was wanted for a parole violation, Hunt was held without bail at the Orange County Jail, Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Martini said.

Noting Hunt’s lengthy criminal record, Martini called him “a great candidate for ‘three strikes’ sentencing.”

Four other people, who were in the motel room with Hunt and who have not been identified, also were arrested.

“I assume they’re just as dangerous as he is,” Martini said.

Investigators had reason to believe that Hunt was in the area, Martini said, and had been circulating flyers with his photograph.

Scott Williams, manager of the Beach West Inn near Beach Boulevard and McFadden Avenue, just off the San Diego Freeway, said an officer came by at 3 a.m. Friday and showed the photo to a security guard. About 9 a.m., the guard saw a man he thought looked like Hunt and notified Williams, who called police. Within 10 minutes, officers began arriving from the Westminster Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Residents in the 10 to 15 rooms closest to Hunt’s were quietly evacuated to the swimming pool area, Williams said.

About 11:45 a.m., the other four occupants of the room left. They were arrested immediately, and deputies spoke through the door ordering Hunt to surrender.

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Hunt appeared to have dyed his hair and shaved off his mustache since the confrontation with the Orange County sheriff’s deputy on Monday was captured on her patrol car’s video camera.

The deputy had responded to calls from neighbors in the 2200 block of Redlands Drive in Santa Ana Heights about a man slumped over the steering wheel of a car that had been idling for more than two hours.

When the deputy arrived, the man came out with a briefcase in one hand and a gun, hidden behind it, in the other. He told the deputy, whose name has not been made public, that he would shoot her in the head if she stopped him from getting away, deputies said.

He shot the front tires of her patrol car and fled. Less than an hour later, he broke into a Newport Beach home and robbed a resident of jewelry and her white Ford Mustang, police said. The car was recovered by a Newport Beach parking patrol officer two days later.

Neither the deputy nor the Newport Beach resident was injured.

Hunt, who had lived in Orange County in the past, was paroled in December after serving time for vehicle theft, burglary and receiving stolen property, according to the California Department of Corrections records. Deputies said he previously spent time in prison for armed robbery, assaults, narcotics violations, burglary and possession of stolen property.