Police try to subdue a man who was trying to flee officers in a McDonald's parking lot just after midnight Tuesday morning.

First off, the annual fireworks show on the Space Needle fizzled after a computer glitch brought the show to a stop twice. The automated system malfunctioned and three employees were forced to set off the remaining displays manually, but the show was no longer choreographed.

In the moments after the fireworks, Seattle police were sent to the corner of 5th and Denny for reports of gun shots fired in the area. Officials say two people stopped their car, got out, fired shots into the air, and then sped off.

Police did not get to the car in time, but did manage to get the vehicle plate and model. It was a Volkswagen with Washington license 670-WYN. Police say if you know that vehicle, please give them a call.

While on the scene of that incident, a bicycle officer noticed a green and white car with large spinner wheels doing "doughnuts" in the intersection of Taylor and Denny, said Capt. Belshay with the Seattle Police Department. Once the driver noticed police had spotted him, he tried to get out of the area.

Due to the large crowd heading home from the fireworks display, traffic was basically stalled throughout the area and streets were full of pedestrians. Once the driver ran out of room to go forward, Seattle police say he threw the car into reverse and was going backwards on 5th Ave. North at speeds up to 40 mph until he slammed into a van full of people, including children, at the intersection with Denny Way.

The driver tried to get away again, but was rammed by a Seattle police car. Two men in the car were arrested. At least one woman in the van was taken to a hospital and several others were treated for neck and back injuries, but no children were hurt. Police say alcohol was a factor in that incident. (See raw video of the crash from Fisher Plaza surveillance cameras.)

Just as that crash was happening, a pedestrian was hit by a car in the nearby McDonald's parking lot on the corner of 5th and Broad. There's no word on the extent of person's injuries, but police took the driver into custody.

As he was being arrested, a KOMO photographer captured video of a separate man in that parking lot who was running from police. Nearly a dozen police officers and at least one firefighter chased and tackled 23-year-old Marcel Richardson.

During the chase, the video showed an officer being maced, a newspaper dispenser knocked over, and Richardson being Tasered and arrested. (Watch the raw video of the arrest)

Richardson's friends accused police of going too far in trying to subdue him, and said Richardson was only trying to protect himself.

"This is my blood-related cousin and they're just beating on him, spraying him and that ain't right," said Richardson's cousin, Isaiah Cooper. "There are so many of them and just one person."

Police spokesman Mark Jamieson said he did not believe the officers' actions were excessive.

"Again you have to ask, why did this man run from police?" Jamieson said when asked about the number of officers working to control Richardson.

After he was tackled, the tape shows Richardson on his hands and knees, not moving. Then an officer standing behind him fired a Taser at Richardson's back.

Jamieson said the use of the Taser was not excessive force even though Richardson was on the ground.

"You saw how quickly the application of the Taser got him into compliance," Jamieson said after viewing the video tape of the arrest.

Jamieson said officers may have been giving orders that Richardson wasn't following. And although he was on his knees, Richardson's hands were free and officers didn't know if he had a weapon.

Richardson's cousin admitted that Richardson had a verbal argument with an officer before the scuffle.

"Just yelling, arguing," Cooper said. "No one fought no one had weapons."

Richardson has several misdemeanors on his record, including an arrest for disorderly conduct. He bailed out of jail Tuesday evening.