During the blizzard of ‘78, friends of mine were stuck at the company data center and had to call the cops on tow truck drivers that were caught pulling cars out of the private parking lot.
They were getting paid for every car they “pulled off the street”.
Sleaze is nothing new for that business.
People who have lived in areas where parking is at a premium like beach communities or where special events take place know all about the car stealing scam where they just tow cars away that are parked legally.
They hunt for cars and like you described will come into parking lots and take them.