Towing Issues: towing, riverside county california, toyota corolla

Question
good day chris, i hope this finds you well. my wife loaned a car to a realtive, while driving the vehicle a hose burst, and coolant started to spew into the engine area, causing the car to smoke. a riverside county california county sheriff pulled her over, and stated that because the car was older, and he must have been thinking because she appears to be poor, that he had to have the car towed, because in his opinion people with cars this old, just abandon them. so he towed the vehicle, the friend was given no opportunity to do anything about the vehicle. my wife and me were out of the country, the car had been sold by the towing company, for $200, it was a 1983 toyota corolla, and we are now being dunned by a collection agency for $2700 for storage. in your opinion was this towing legitimate by the police officer, and is this debt legitimate? if so should we just make an arrangement to pay. they sent a letter mentioning taking legal actions that are allowable in the state of california. thanks

Answer
This is odd because California has some strict laws about towing. The officer can tow a vehicle on a roadway that is disabled, but only if there is no one present or no arrangements for the vehicle to be removed. You can access the California code easily on the internet. Were you notified by the towing company that they had your vehicle?