Now, Joseph Grady, 20, and his 14 year old stepbrother are behind bars, in what police and residents hope is the end of an unprecedented crime spree.
The owner of one home didn't want to be photographed, but she showed us some of the damage after two days of cleaning up.
The burglars broke the back door, smashed a new flat screen television, smashed a computer, poked holes in the walls, and ripped a medicine cabinet off the wall.
In an upstairs bedroom, they poured a gallon of weed killer over the furniture and carpet.
In the basement, they smashed a brand new washer and dryer and covered them in white paint.
They also tore the new furnace from the wall.
The homeowners had just finished five months of renovations and moved in last week.
Police arrested Grady and his 14-year-old stepbrother on Wednesday.
He was asked why he had to trash the houses.
"It wasn't me, sir," Grady said as he was lead into the police station by authorities.
"The investigation is continuing, and dozens of reported burglaries are being reviewed, how many can be attributed to Grady and his 14-year-old accomplice," said Chief Thomas Nestel of the Upper Moreland Police.
Police found hundreds of pieces of jewelry in Grady's car and evidence in his trash.
They also found a gun that had been stolen in Philadelphia.
Grady and his stepbrother live in a house with their grandfather in the neighborhood where most of the burglaries have happened.
Mostly, they only got away with chump change.
"I had three bottles with pennies, nickels and dimes in it," said burglary victim Tom Fuerle. "They took them, but they lef the thing full of quarters," Fuerle said.
Grady was out on bail at the time for another burglary charge in Bucks County.
His grandfater now loses the $5,000 he put up for that bail.
This time, Grady is being held on $100,000 cash bail with no 10% down to get out.
His stepbrother has been turned over to juvenille authorities.
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