Police officer knocked over by getaway car in botched ATM heist

A police officer has been knocked down by a getaway car in the dangerous aftermath of a brazen bid to bust into an ATM in Adelaide's north-east.

The would-be thieves were armed with a sledgehammer and an angle grinder but what they likely thought was the perfect heist took too long.

CCTV from the Golden Grove X Convenience store showed sparks from the angle grinder turning night into day about 3am yesterday morning.

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But the seven minutes the alleged criminals took was enough for police to arrive, at which point chaos broke out.

As two officers raced after one would-be thief on foot, a third tried to grab the one who jumped back in the car.

The officer was cleaned up as the car reversed out of the way before weaving between the police barricade and the bowser to make its getaway.

"And I've been working in here since 1½ years so it's scary to see something like this can happen any night," a worker from the shop said.

The 48-year-old man from Holden Hill who was left behind by the driver was arrested and charged with attempted robbery.

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The incident came just days after police raised the alarm about a series of nine raids on cash machines across Adelaide in 12 months.

"It's more damage to the property, the insurance and everything than what they are stealing and more damage to the people they try to run away," the worker said.

The stolen Subaru used in the attempted theft was soon found dumped at Gould Creek, where the angle grinder was among items seized from the scene for forensic testing.

The 48-year-old was released on bail to face court in October.