Contractor Owes Me $2k+, Has Abandoned His Tools At My House For Months. How To Proceed.

Hi. I’ve paid a contractor up front to complete work on my house. He did some work, and has not returned since the end of December - 2.5 months ago. He owes me about $2,250 in money I gave him upfront for unfinished work. He has also left thousand of dollars worth of tools in my garage taking up about half the space.

He has gone through phases of not responding for weeks, and then promising he’ll be there only to no call no show several times. The latest is he promised me he’d be here this past Monday and he hasn’t responded to me since then.

Supposedly he is licensed and insured but when I try to find company info online, there is nothing. He hasn’t given me any receipts and most of the money was given to him in cash. I have no address or contact information for him or his business other than his cell phone number, don’t even know what town he lives in. On top of that, at one point he let me know that he is in the country illegally and has been hiding out from ICE, barely leaving his house. He also told me he has to sell one of his cars because he has no money from not working for months, so I know he can’t just refund me.

At this point my patience has worn thin. I want to message him and say if he isn’t here or doesn’t refund me by the end of next week I will be listing his tools for sale to recoup my $2,250. Can I get into trouble for doing that or how would you recommend I proceed?