
Storage Wars castmember Mark Balelo committed suicide Monday, the Ventura Country coroner’s office said. He was 40.
Balelo, a businessman who was jokingly called “Rico Suave” on the show for the snazzy attire he wore to auctions, died of carbon-monoxide poisoning, according to the coroner’s office. One of Balelo’s employees found him in his car, which had been left running at Balelo’s auction house in Simi Valley, Calif.
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TMZ reported that Balelo was arrested Saturday for a drug-related offense. After his release from jail, a distraught Balelo called his fiancee and told her that he might hurt himself. After the two spoke at his office for a couple of hours, he took a nap and, upon waking, seemed better. His fiancee left Sunday night.
An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.
According to IMDb.com, Balelo appeared on several episodes of A&E’s Storage Wars during the past few seasons. On the show, he often angered other bidders by showing up with large amounts of money and easily outbidding all his rivals.