Rules are rules, and if I paid for a condo which comes with a parking space, I would be really pis*ed if somebody stole the parking space before I made the first payment. Since I have a reputation of being a nice guy, I probably would leave a note the first time, but not if I had to pay a meter (and with my lousy memory, get a ticket myself for forgetting to feed the meter). He's lucky you didn't just wait patiently 3 days, and file a lien against the car and take title to it as legally abandoned.
Charles