He was, but you still shouldn’t be laying traps for people. That has virtually always been forbidden, in any law.
Yet they use bait cars all the time
IANAL, don't even play one on TV, but I'm not sure what he did is a "trap" in the sense prohibited by law. He just left his garage door open and had surveillance, which are both legal. I think in most states what's prohibited is an automatic unattended booby trap.
Even if I'm correct, he should have kept his mouth shut beforehand, because they're going to easily show that trapping was in fact the intent.
If leaving your garage door open is laying a trap, half the people in Huntinton Beach must be trying to kill people.
I saw lots of open garage doors with Ferraris and Lambos in them when I was there a few years ago.