Prosecutor: City Workers Looted Homes

Nine current and former city workers have been charged in a series of home invasions and thefts, city prosecutors say.

The workers were employed by a city program designed to help homeowners without the means to keep up their properties, investigators say.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham says the crew was supposed to do "clean and sweeps."

But Abraham says they did "clean and steals" instead, preying on elderly and uninformed victims in northeast Philadelphia between the summer of 2006 and January 2008.

She says that, in one case, the crew took everything except for the trash.

In another, authorities say workers stole handguns and then billed the homeowner $17,000.

The charges were announced in a grand jury presentment Wednesday.

Mayor Michael Nutter says the employees will be dealt with appropriately.