Towing Issues: Vehical on Evidence Hold, voice mail, towing company

Question
My vehicle was "borrowed" by an acquaintance for a few months and I was unable and/or did not report it as stolen.  While having the brakes fixed, this acquaintance rear ended another vehicle in the parking lot.  A fight ensued and the police were called.  The acquaintance ran off abandoning my vehicle.  The police towed the vehicle and placed it on evidence hold.  I received notice from the towing company and tried to recover the vehicle ($500) but was not allowed because of the hold.  Two+ months later and many un-returned phone calls, unable to find why or what department was holding it, detective on vacation, released but a note to call detective, it has been released.  It also seems there was no actual case against which it was being held.  I now have a bill for about $3000.00 to get my vehicle out of impound.  I am trying to scrape up the cash, but each day adds to it.  The towing company has sent me a letter to release it for them to sale…
The city being San Diego CA, I realize that there are budget cuts, etc. but I could not get a person to return a call.  The phone numbers all had voice mail and I left multiple messages.  It was finally formally released by getting a hold of the original officer via the dispatcher and him telling me it was the hit and run department.  I physically went to that department and demanded to talk with a detective who said they released it; the one assigned was on vacation.  I then tried to get my vehicle to find that a note said to call the originally assigned detective.  Another couple weeks and finally getting a hold of the detective told me it had already been released 2 weeks ago…
Should I be responsible for the city not having enough staff to deal with the amount of work, etc? Is there anything that I can do to help pay this or at least recover some of the cost from the city (be it by suing them).  I do not feel I did anything “wrong” like not having insurance, etc. Thanks.  

Answer
I really wish I had an answer for you, but when dealing with government agencies you have big issues with how fast they work and how many people are involved.

Now I am not sure but the fact that you "loaned the vehicle" to the friend and no stolen vehicle report was made, does toss the liability issue back onto you for a lot of things. After all you are the owner of the vehicle and as such are responsible for any and all damages or claims responsible as a result of it being driven. The other persons insurance (if they had any or if they had a valid drivers license) should of taken care of the issue, but since they choose to run, then it becomes this huge legal battle you are in now.

Sue the city, well you can always try to do that, but I doubt that you will get anywhere with it. After all that is a legal issue along with the "hit and run"

I am not sure what else to suggest other than talk to a lawyer and see what they say about this issue. Wish I could help more.