Members of the Police Department are authorized, when reasonably necessary for the security of the vehicle or to prevent obstruction of traffic, to remove from the streets and impound any vehicle whose operator is arrested or any unattended vehicle which is parked so as to constitute an obstruction or hazard to normal traffic. Any impounded vehicle shall be stored until the owner or other person entitled thereto claims it, gives satisfactory evidence of ownership or right to possession and pays all applicable fees and costs or until it is otherwise lawfully disposed of.
(`83 Code, § 9-604)