US Cops Arrest 'Fast Eddie' Over 1993 £1m Raid

A fugitive who has been on the run for 19 years after a £1m raid on a security van in the UK has been arrested in America.

Eddie Maher, known as "Fast Eddie", disappeared following the theft from a Securicor van in Felixstowe, Suffolk, in 1993.

But he is being held by police after being apprehended in the the Ozarks, an area of central eastern US which includes Arkansas and Missouri.

A spokesman for Suffolk Police said: "We are liaising with the US authorities regarding the detention of Eddie Maher, who police wish to speak to in connection with a security van robbery in Felixstowe in 1993."

Maher, 56, is believed to have been working in the area for a cable company under a false name at the time of his arrest.

He vanished following the alleged crime outside Lloyds Bank in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe.

Maher is suspected of waiting outside in the van while a colleague made a delivery to the bank - but the vehicle then vanished and was later found empty on the seafront.

Police believe 50 bags, containing £1m in coins, £20 and £10 notes, had been transferred into a Toyota Previa Space Cruiser vehicle with false number plates, stolen earlier in London.

It is believed the money was transferred again into a car later found burnt out in Essex.

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman confirmed Maher - thought to have been living under the name Mike Maher - had been arrested on immigration charges.

FBI representative Bridgette Patton told CNN: "We were led to believe that the individual in question could possibly be Eddie Maher, a fugitive from the United Kingdom."

Maher's son, Lee King, told KSPR television in Springfield, Missouri, said: "My dad is one of the nicest guys you'll meet, he's only ever done what's good for us.

"He doesn't commit crimes, and he's the one that gets me out of trouble."

Mr King said his family moved around a lot, but that his father had told him it was because of his job.