Towing Issues: Towing and Time Limit Rights, car repair shop, tow company

Question
A friend was using my car for a short time, when he was done he said it was ok to leave it parked at his brothers house.  His brother is a renter, which I didn't know.

In one day, the brother and the car repair shop next door, got in the car and cut the club off the steering wheel.  Pushed it out in the street area, then phoned a local tow company who came and towed it the same afternoon.  This was in Tracy, California on a friday.  It was parked in a publically/shared parking area that customers of this auro repair, a meeting place for AA, and the renter.  When I spoke with the brother he said he had told my friend to call me during the week.  The friend denies this.  There was no ticket or written notice provided to me.

Answer
Aaahh  the good old  I told the person to call story.  

Sorry if I seem a bit skeptical on this, but its a story which towers always here.  I told them to come get it before I had it towed.  

Now,  if the repair shop decided to enter the car and cut the club off to be able to push it out to the street to get it off their property, I think I would be looking into the legal options available.   It sounds  (TO ME ) that it would be an illegal tow, if they pushed it out onto a city street and then had the vehicle towed..  Property owners can not order vehicles towed off city streets without the police doing the authorization.. That law applies everywhere EXCEPT ON PRIVATE ROADS...

It sounds like that parking lot is shared with several businesses and that also presents a problem. If someone does not like someone else who is authorized to park there you can have a can of worms towing vehicles.

Now as the the ticket or notice, towing companies are supposed to notify the Registered Owner by mail (in some cases the Police do it), but it takes time to do that ..

Now if you want I would be checking with the police to see what your options are. They should be able to tell you more.   California has so many laws regarding towing, that I go blind trying to keep up on all the changes.  

Sorry but I think that there will be no real good answer for this one except to chalk it up as lesson to not loan out your car.