How To Go About Suing A Person That Lives 3 Hours Away

(ARIZONA) hey yall, long story short i’m taking an ex roommate to court for trashing the apartment and ditching me as well as skipping paying last months rent and utilities. he moved away and im under the impression that he lives in lakeside arizona and the incident occurred in flagstaff arizona. i have since moved a few hours away. my question is, can i file a claim in flagstaff? (where the incident occurred) or do i have to file a claim in lakeside where i believe he lives? i’m not 100 percent sure what his new address is but i have an idea of where he might be.