Doesn't matter. They're all pretty cheap & there are tricks to getting them off. What really will fuck you is they enter in all your vehicle information, they'll grab your address & everything, and they'll legally harass & fine the shit out of you.
Everybody involved kinda sucks. None of this is okay. I think it's pretty fucking stupid, to pay for parking, to pay parking tickets. BUT: the alternative to all these cute little boots & wasting your time, money is they physically yoink your car & impound it in a towyard. Which is annoying AF. So instead they boot it & hope you're a decent, normal person that doesn't crack car boots.
...so if you find your car booted, unless you want to encourage them towing away vehicles all willy-nilly...just pay the stupid fine. And try not to park in pay lots in the future.
I'm pretty sure it does, it looks visible through the wheel. I also think it's kind of telling that in the first picture the wheel is already off the car, it doesn't show them removing the lug nuts at all.
Hah, my colleague did that, it got booted at a private property. It was late and he wanted to go home. Then after he left they took his wheel and threatened to dispose of it, he just threatened to call the actual police for theft of the wheel. Didn't have to pay at the end.
Dear high, guy had a wheel lock for parking in a forbidden spot. He changed his tire to be able to drive instead of paying the ticket and getting it removed.