CHICAGO – An assistant biochemistry professor at Rush University Medical Center told Chicago police that a box of homemade dynamite found inside his condominium was simply to celebrate the Fourth of July.

But in court Monday, prosecutors alleged Monday that Marcello DelCarlo had actually made the explosives devices to trade for methamphetamines.

DelCarlo, 36, was charged with felony possession of an explosive or incendiary device and misdemeanor domestic battery after his girlfriend alleged he had violently shaken her. She had called police Sunday, told them of the homemade dynamite and alleged he made the explosives and then traded them for meth, Assistant State’s Attorney Erin Antonietti said in court.

Police discovered more than a dozen cardboard tubes filled with an explosive substance and capped with plaster inside DelCarlo’s Chicago home.

One of the devices ignited as police bomb and arson investigators tried to remove it, causing a small fire that was quickly extinguished by the unit’s fire sprinkler system, according to prosecutors and witnesses.

The block-long building was evacuated, and the remaining devices were taken from the home and destroyed.

Neighbor James Steffen said DelCarlo’s unit appeared heavily damaged by the fire, though no other units in the 200-unit building were harmed.

The smell of chemicals permeated the hallway outside DelCarlo’s unit after police had removed its front metal door, Steffen said. “It smelled like the Fourth of July,” Steffens said.

Police responded to DelCarlo’s condo after his girlfriend called police, saying he had threatened to strike her and had shaken her violently, Antonietti said at a bond hearing.

DelCarlo’s attorney, Scott Yu, disputed Antonietti’s description of the tubes as improvised explosive devices.

“They’re nothing more than glorified firecrackers that the defendant was making to celebrate the Fourth of July,” Yu said.

DelCarlo is currently serving a sentence of six months of court supervision a form of probation for a January conviction for misdemeanor possession of ammunition without a valid firearm owner’s identification card and possession of an unregistered handgun.

• William Lee & Matthew Walberg