Auto Regio Inc

This towing company needs to be stopped. They attempted to steal my car yesterday from a private lot, accessible to the public. I pulled in to pick up my daughter from school. I was not gone 10 minutes, when I returned, they had my vehicle hooked up to their truck. Needless to say I was furious. He insisted that because of the signs I was warned, and that the owner of the business had given him authorization to tow my vehicle, however, he never showed any such signed authorization. He proceeded to extort money from me claiming that he would only charge me a “drop fee” to get my car back, otherwise, he would take it to the yard and it would cost me double. I had an appointment to keep, and had no choice but to give into his demands. However, pursuant to CVC § 22953, I was well within my rights to be in that lot for the amount of time I was there. His actions were nothing more than attempted car theft on his part. He was also in violation of CVC § 22658(g) and (h), which states that though I may be charged a drop fee, the towing cannot demand I pay the fee immediately in order to have my car released. I am considering criminal charges at this point.