Towing Issues: emergency parking on freeway, tow company, chp

Question
My car broke down at 9:30pm, When I showed up the next day with a tow company to pick it up, I noticed that another tow company was there already because the CHP told them that since it was just sitting there that they needed to pick it up. But before they could hook it up I got there to get it. It was no longer abandoned, yet they still refused to give me my car due to the fact that the CHP gave them permission to tow my car for being abandoned. Is that Illegal?

Answer
I'll assume your tower wasn't on scene yet. Since the police authorized tower was on scene and your requested tower wasn't then the car will get towed immediately. If police were on scene they aren't going to wait for your tower to show up. Another scenario with police on scene is your arrival with your requested tower. The police authorized tower was there and they haven't hooked your vehicle yet then, in most cases, they leave empty handed and the police put them back on top of the list. Then again if you had some violations or trouble proving ownership for the vehicle then the police may give the police authorized tow company permission to tow the vehicle. What was the police officer's response for any protest on your part? If police were not on scene and you were there then how do you know it was a true police authorized tow? As you can see there are many variables and believe some information is missing to properly answer the question.