A POLICE helicopter crew were drafted in to help in a crook-catching operation spanning Newton Abbot and Torquay late last night.

The chopper was hovering over Newton Abbot at 10pm as officers on the ground tracked a stolen Audi involved in two earlier shoplifting incidents - one at Asda in the town and the other at the Willows Sainsbury’s store in Torquay.

Pursuing officers used a Stinger device to puncture the tyres of the fugitive Audi TT, snatched some time between Sunday and yesterday.

But the fleeing vehicle escaped the 11pm ploy in Torquay’s Riviera Way because it was fitted with ‘run flat’ tyres.

It was later found abandoned an hour later in the resort.

The Willows shoplifting happened at 8pm followed by a similar sortie at the Asda store.

In a separate incident, officers found a black Hyundai Santa Fe in Torquay’s Snowberry Close at about the time as the Audi discovery.

The Hyundai had been stolen from Haytor Drive on Newton Abbot’s Buckland estate yesterday.

A police spokesman said this morning: ‘If anyone witnessed either of the vehicles, or the associated incidents, they should contact us at [email protected] or by ringing 101 quoting log 0729 of October 3.’