Should I sue my former employer?

I recently worked for a contracter (who was also a good friend of mine at the time) and I trusted him to pay me. I was to be paid $10 an hour for various duties. The last 5 weeks I worked for him I did not recieve any pay, he just kept saying money was tight and he would get it to me once the house we were working on was finished, and since he was a friend I trusted him. Not only did he not pay me but he kept ALL of my tools I had on the job... he currently owes me roughly 2 grand. Should I sue him or get a mediator? How do I go about doing it?