Man who booby-trapped marijuana grow ready for charges

The man who booby-trapped a grow operation on Detroit's west side hasn't been arrested yet but says he knows it's coming and is prepared to face the consequences of his actions.

It turns out, the marijuana grow operation is legal, but his traps - rigged to explode when tripped - were not.

The man who set the booby-traps, Josh, lives on Florida street on Detroit's west side. He said the reason he set it up is because the grow operation is all he has.

"I don't have a lot of money and they still want what I've got," Josh said. "What if these people had a gun? I can't use anything like that. Or I come outside and tell them to get out of here and and they shoot me?"

On Monday, he said the homemade explosive devices were placed to protect his medical marijuana plants and his family. But on Sunday, a man walking through the alley was injured when he tripped on one of the traps and triggered four loud explosions.

"I was looking for something loud, not something big that would cause damage or anything like that," Josh told FOX 2's Erika Erickson on Monday. Watch her story:

Bomb squad members were out for hours on Sunday. Police say the victim suffered cuts to his leg, and has been released from the hospital.

"I'm glad that the victim's okay, I really am because I didn't intend for anybody to get hurt on that."

Martin Munoz lives nearby and said the alley is a tight spot as is, let alone with booby traps along the way.

"If you go walk in the alley there's not a lot of space on there so what are you doing up there?" Munoz said.

Josh says about four days ago he caught someone stealing his plants. That's when he had enough and set the traps.

"I have no way to defend myself I have no way to defend my family because criminals don't have no remorse for any kind of law."

The victims family declined to comment on Monday. A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Donald Dawkins tells FOX 2 that federal charges, including unlawful manufacturing of an explosive, are coming.

Josh says those charges are fair and he understands why they're going to be filed.

"They're only doing their job I understand that but I was only doing mine as a father and as a family man," Josh said. "I've got a long fight ahead of me, I'm not going nowhere, I'm not running."