Towing Issues: Towing off private property and extortion., tow truck driver, townhouse community

Question
While walking my dog for a late night potty break I saw the security guard standing behind my truck and I saw a tow-truck turn the corner and stopped behind my truck.  I yelled and ran the 200 feet saying do not tow my truck.  I will move it.  The security guard said it had been parked in the same spot for over 72 hours. The tow-truck driver got out and started hooking my truck up to tow it.  I told him to stop, that I was handicapped, That I lived here ( a townhouse community) and was the homeowner.  The driver told me he was going to tow my truck no matter how much of a scene I made. Then he said. or you can pay me $70 for a drop fee. I said you can't hook up my truck after I have told you not to. I am not paying you extortion.  Then I got inside the truck with my service dog and locked the doors and windows.  The driver came to the window and stated very menacingly that he was now going to charge me $10 a minute until I came out.  I said that is just more extortion, I will wait for the police.  I called 911 and got a lecture that this was not a life or death emergency.  The 911 operator also told me there was nothing the police could do, Once the vehicle is hooked up you have to pay the fee and then go to civil court if you feel you've been wronged.  I said I am sitting inside my truck outside of my townhouse, with very threatening individuals who will not tell me there name and are threatening me with towing my truck if I don't pay.  The police arrive, cut me off while I am trying to tell them what has happened, and tell me to either pay the drop fee or they can tow it.  Each time I tried to tell the officer that they hooked my truck up right in front of me, with me sitting inside of it. He said we were both being childish.  Just call your wife and ask her to bring a credit card and pay the let down fee.  So I did. I told the police that I was astonished that this could happen in the United States.  The police are telling me that I have to pay the money, nothing they can do about it.  I tried to explain how I could prove they were lying.  As soon as the tow-truck driver heard that I was waiting for the police he scrambled to complete the hook-up as fast as possible.  My truck is an AWD V-8.  He hooked his lift sling to the back of the truck for a reverse tow, but he put the dollies on the rear tires.  He only did that for expedience, because the police were coming and he wanted to proved he was hooked up. For a wheel lift and dolly tow from the rear bumper the dollies would have to go on the front tire.  Nobody would tow a vehicle with the wheel lift and the dollies on the same end.  That would defeat the purpose of the dollies. He claimed to the police that he was hooked up.  If he towed my truck with the configuration that he claimed "hooked up" , it would have ruined my transmission and my AWD.  The towing manual for wreckers from Ford states that AWD should be on a flatbed.  There is no lock-out, etc.


Since the police say they have no authority over this civil matter, then why not look at the evidence in front of you, instead of badgering me to just pay, and not listen to my side of the story.  Besides suing who can I contact with the city and the police, or press, to bring an end to this chicanery?

Answer
You have several issues to deal with.
First, was you vehicle parked legally, did they post any notice, does your complex have a policy about towing vehicles. Did the security guard inform you or notify you anytime prior that the vehicle should not be parked there. If you are handicapped is it a parking spotted marked for that purpose.
The police should have been glad to send a unit out since there was a Breach of the Peace. As for the fee, if the complex called them, they are entitled to be paid for coming out because it was not them that just decided to come tow a vehicle. Is the wrecker service licensed and insured and why did he use a "sling" most reputable companies that do regular towing use a wheel lift. As for the towing, as long as the wheels are not touching the ground it is OK. I would be careful however with a sling because most manufactures do not allow vehicles to be towed with a sling. If he had the dollies on the same end he picked up that was incorrect.
Please give me a little more information and I will be glad to assist you further.
As for who to contact, I would start with your complex manager, then the police department then go to the local media.