Mr. C's Towing Swoops in with Mass Car Sweep, Targeting Low Income Residents (Guest Post by Marilyn Angel)

On October 17, 2026, Mari P., a Lynwood resident with mobility issues, started her Saturday morning witnessing a large towing sweep near Norton Street. She saw sheriff's vehicles driving alongside Lynwood parking enforcement officers, checking license plates to see which cars had expired registrations. Then, Mr. C's Towing would tow these cars off the public street.

Mari followed the tow trucks to the parking lot behind the Lynwood Citizen Center, where she watched Mr. C's Towing drivers tow in and park the vehicles. Lynwood public safety officers then completed paperwork and placed citations on the cars before the tow truck impounded the cars. Mari counted about 16 vehicles, with more arriving after she left. 

She said these large-scale towing sweeps occur repeatedly and without warning in the neighborhood, with residents regularly alerting one another through Facebook when tow trucks begin removing vehicles.

The Legal Lens discovered that the Mr. C's Towing contract expired with the City on August 8, 2024. All tows require City Council authorization under its own ordinance. The Legal Lens also discovered that Mr. C's Towing preys on low income and disabled motorists.

Lynwood charges $150 to release a towed vehicle, while Mr. C's lists a $190 towing fee and $60 for storage. That's $400 per car. For the 16 vehicles Mari counted, the city could collect $2,400 and Mr. C's Towing $4,000, totaling $6,400, if all were released at those rates. These are estimates, not confirmed payments.

These towing sweeps likely occur on weekends because the City may be unable to issue vehicle releases until Monday, forcing owners to leave their vehicles in impound for an additional two days. This delay can result in additional impound fees of up to $800.

Questions remain about which City of Lynwood bank account receives these proceeds and, more importantly, where the money ultimately goes and who benefits from it.

Lynwood is a predominantly Hispanic, working-class community with a substantial immigrant population. It borders the City of Bell, a community with a similar socioeconomic and demographic profile and a notorious history of municipal corruption.

"It's sad to see a lot of people in our community lose their transportation," Mari said, expressing frustration that Lynwood appears more focused on collecting money from residents than on issues affecting them. "It's unfair because we're over here struggling.”