Towing Issues: Tow from Apt Complex, Tustin, CA, apt management, small claims court

Question
While visiting me my son had parked his car in a space posted"future resident parking;no public parking between 9am - 6pm". Using his cell phone to designate the correct time he had left his car at 6pm. When he was ready to leave at 8:30pm his car was not parked in the spot, he called the local PD and was told they did not know anything about it. He called the tow company and was then told that (apt)management requested the tow at 5:54pm. When we spoke to (apt)management the next day we were informed that they did authorize the tow at 5:57pm. The car however was not towed until 7pm. The reason was that two cars were to be taken and the other vehicle was towed first since the tow company only had one truck avail. And we were told by (apt)mgt "you cannot park in the spaces until after 6pm".
Questions: 1)Can we use time descrepency between the tow co and mgt to our defense. 2)Does the fact that the car was not towed until 7pm help us in anyway? 3)Where or what is determined as to "who" has the correct time? 4)If the vehicle pulled into the space at 5:58pm but, was not locked up and left unoccupied until 6:00pm is that considered unauthorized parking?
We are trying to get reimbursed for the costs. We need to know how and where to go.

Answer
I doubt that you could win with the "time issue" as each clock is different", and I have heard and seen this about a million times over the years.

But if the vehicle was towed at 7 PM, when ordered prior to the 6 PM time, it still established that the vehicle was in violation when it was authorized.

If you want to try and get your money back, the only way I see is small claims court, and even then you would have a tough time...