Roommate Moved Out But Won't Remove His Stuff, Now He's Demanding I Pay For Storage

Location: San Diego

This situation has gotten really messy and I dont know what to do anymore. I live in San Diego and signed a 12 month lease with my roommate back in March. We're both on the lease equally. In August he got a job offer in Seattle and said he was moving but would keep paying his half of rent until the lease ended in March since he knew it would be hard for me to find someone mid lease.

Well he moved out in September but left probably 60% of his stuff here. Like his bed, dresser, a bunch of boxes, clothes, kitchen stuff, basically a full bedroom worth of things plus stuff in the living room and garage. He said he'd come get it "in a few weeks" when he got settled.

I've been asking him to come get his stuff since October. Every time he says he'll come down "next month" or he's too busy with his new job. Last month I told him I needed him to get his things by January 15th because I finally found someone to take over his half of the lease and they need to move in February 1st. The new person has seen the place and is ok with the timeline.

Now he's saying he cant come until late February and is demanding that I either 1) pay for a storage unit to move all his stuff to or 2) pay him $800 because thats what a storage unit would cost for 2 months. He also says if I touch any of his stuff he'll sue me for theft or destruction of property.

Here's where it gets complicated.. when he moved in he painted his bedroom walls this dark purple color without asking the landlord. The lease specifically says no painting without written permission. I have some money saved up from budgeting over the past year and was planning to repaint it back to white before the landlord does the final inspection, but now I'm worried if I do that before he gets his stuff out he'll try to say I damaged his things with paint fumes or something.

Also he stopped paying his half of the rent in November. He said since he's not living there anymore he shouldn't have to pay, even though that's not what he originally agreed to. I've been covering the full rent because I cant afford an eviction on my record but I'm draining my savings.

Can he legally force me to store his stuff or pay for storage? Do I have any right to remove his things after he abandoned them for this long? What about the rent he owes me, can I sue him in small claims for that? And if he's still on the lease does that mean I can't let the new roommate move in even though he hasn't lived here in months?