Should I sue my ex roommate for damages to my belongings?

I had moved out of my previous apartment because I could not see eye to eye with my roommate and had told management to move out. However, I had left some of my stuff in his apartment including my important doents like my pport, birthcertificate, driver's license. However his toilet clogged and ruined my stuff because it went under my bedroom door and it was on the door. I am considering suing him because I felt he should have reported this to management earlier but his excuse was that he is not responsible because he said I carelessly left my stuff on the floor and that the fact I went to management before speaking with him made him look like he was in a badlight and made it harder for him to report it on time.