Realtor Ron Pierce would soon learn that most of the copper pipes in one home on Littlecroft Road were cut out even causing water damage.
"When they cut the lines for the heater, the radiators all drained so any water that was up in the heating system just comes pouring down," Pierce said.
For the owner, who's been renovating the house to rent, there is more than $2,000 in damage.
That home is just one of 22 vacant Upper Darby homes robbed of copper pipes this year. 15 of them occurred in the last week.
The properties are being renovated and most are in the Stonehurt section.
"They cut all the tubing out and then they store at the back door and then they have a van and the van goes around and picks it up," Upper Darby police superintendent Michael Chitwood said.
Dane Coleman and Charles Wesley, both from Upper Darby, are charged with two of the burglaries and Chitwood says they may have been involved in most of them
Copper is selling for about $3.57 a pound, but police say one of the men arrested said he's getting $4.
A search of Coleman's house uncovered power tools and several Philadelphia School District computer monitors which police allege are all stolen.
Meanwhile, Pierce says another client had to put off going to settlement because of the stolen pipes and damage.
"The seller's going to wind up spending another couple thousand dollars to get it ready for sale," Pierce said.
While police say Dane Coleman is the ringleader, they believe several other people are involved and they are hoping to make more arrests and file additional charges.
