SA resident confronted by axe-wielding driver

A Willaston resident was confronted by an axe-wielding driver who smashed into his backyard during a wild police chase.

It's alleged the suspect used his weapon to break a window of the man's car before officers stepped in.

Bruce Fletcher was watching TV when a car slammed through a fence.

READ MORE: She went with partner to his dad's home, knowing horror they would find

"It was an unholy bang, I've never heard anything like it," Fletcher said.

"It was like an explosion.

"The next thing, this bloke's yelling out, 'Shift your car, shift your car'."

Just 45 minutes earlier, the man was seen driving away from plain-clothes police at Elizabeth East just after 7pm yesterday.

He was wanted for questioning over a service station robbery at Blakeview.

Police chased him through several suburbs before he became stuck in Fletcher's yard.

"I said you can't get out here, I said it's got the roller door down."

Fletcher then spotted the plain-clothes officers.

"I did breathe a sigh of relief," he said.

"They dragged him out of the car and they squirted him with the hose."

READ MORE: Speedboat doesn't slow or turn as it ploughs towards vessel

Police said they were forced to use capsicum spray because the man had tried to attack them with a small axe.

Fletcher said the same axe had been used to smash the windscreen of his car.

"I think he was trying to get into the car to shift it," he said.

The man has been charged with a string of offences, including six counts of aggravated endangerment of life.

"He didn't even say sorry or anything, he just couldn't have cared less," Fletcher said.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.