City of Lynwood Profits From Towing Company Allegedly Stealing Cars

 

On October 20, 2024, Marilyn Angel, a first-generation college student at Cerritos College, was working on a public speaking assignment when she lost track of time and left her car parked several hours beyond the posted parking limit. To reclaim her car, it cost her $445: $150 paid directly to the City of Lynwood and another $295 to Mr. C’s Towing, the towing company. What she didn’t know was that Mr. C’s Towing may have illegally taken her car because its contract with the City had expired on August 8, 2024, more than two months earlier, and had never been extended.

When asked about the expired contract, Lynwood City Manager Suja Lowenthal responded: "I can confirm that the City's agreement with Mr. C's Towing expired in 2024. . . . I authorized a short-term agreement with Mr. C's Towing so that towing services would continue without disruption until a new agreement is brought to the Council."

This arrangement appears to violate Lynwood’s municipal code, which states that only the City Council could approve a contractual extension. Moreover, Lowenthal did not begin working for the City until January9, 2026, more than a year after Angel’s car was towed.

Besides not having a valid contract, Legal Lens discovered other problems with this towing scheme. First, no signs warn drivers that their cars may be towed for exceeding the parking time limit. Second, City law appears to require 30 hours of illegal parking before a car can be towed. (Lynwood Municipal Code § 7-21.10.)

Mr. C’s Towing also appears to lie its way through court to keep its money. Court records reveal that 105 small claims lawsuits have been filed against Mr. C’s Towing over the past decade. In these cases, the company has repeatedly claimed that the property owner or the City requested the tow. Courts have ruled that those claims were false in several cases.

On January 8, 2025, Angel attempted to hold Mr. C’s Towing accountable by suing the company in small claims court. But when she did, Angel encountered the same set of misrepresentations that other claimants faced. (At the time, Angel didn’t know this was part of the tow company’s strategy.) Once again, Mr. C’s Towing told the judge that the City had called to request the tow. The towing company also said that it couldn’t be sued because it was acting as a city employee.

Angel received records showing that, at the time of the tow, nobody from the City of Lynwood had called Mr. C’s Towing; furthermore, the towing company is a contractor, not a city employee. Nonetheless, Superior Court Judge Elizabeth L. Bradley dismissed the case without prejudice.

Questions remain about how much money the City has collected from these allegedly illegal tows. Moreover, once the money is deposited into the City’s bank account, where does it go, and who ultimately receives it? On October 14, 2026 Angel has filed a California Public Records Act request to find out.

On October 1, 2026, after Angel discovered these new facts, she decided to refile her small claims lawsuit against Mr. C’s Towing. When asked why, she said: “It's sad to see the defenseless people Mr. C's Towing has hurt. I want the City and Mr. C's Towing to be held accountable for this and for things to be made right with its citizens.”