Spain, May 13: Spanish police snuck up on a British fugitive as he sunbathed, arresting him in a dramatic raid that even saw the suspect leap onto the roof of a nearby outhouse to try to get away.
The arrest of Andrew Terence Moran, 31, on Friday came some four years after he assaulted security guards and escaped from an armed robbery trial in the United Kingdom.
Moran was found at a luxury villa in Calpe, a resort on the Alicante coast, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, an Interior Ministry statement said on Sunday.
Police video footage showed how officers stealthily approached a swimming pool while hiding behind walls before pouncing on Moran as he sunbathed in red swimming trunks.
As soon as police jumped over the walls, Moran tried to escape by athletically leaping onto the tiled roof of a pool-side outhouse, only to be caught by pursuing officers.
According to Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) which obtained the footage and stills from the Spanish police, armed officers swooped in on him as he relaxed beside a pool.
The police also seized two handguns, 60 rounds of ammunition and a machete.
Moran had been on trial on allegations involving armed robbery and authorities described him as dangerous.
Moran and an associate, Stephen Devalda, 29, were accused of stealing cash from a mail van in Colne, northwest England, using a handgun, machete and baseball bat in 2005.
During his escape from custody in 2009, Moran assaulted four security guards and vaulted over the courtroom dock. He was convicted in his absence of conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Alerted to his presence near the Mediterranean coast, Spanish police tracked him down last November. However, Moran managed to get away after using his vehicle to ram two belonging to the police and driving off at high speed on the wrong side of a highway.
A search of the house he had been living in at the time uncovered a handgun, ammunition, and five kilos (11 pounds) of cannabis, among other items.
Moran is due to appear in a Madrid court on Monday where a judge will begin extradition proceedings.
Devalda was arrested in March 2011 at a hotel in the southern resort of Marbella.
He was extradited to Britain where he was sentenced to nine years and eight months in jail for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and seven months for jumping bail.
