Nov. 9--Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy hasn't filed criminal charges against a Detroit plumbing and heating company owner, even though he apparently confessed to police six months ago that he worked with drug addicts and others to strip vacant properties of fixtures and materials for at least seven years.

Bill Heaney of Heaney Plumbing & Heating on Gratiot was taken into custody by Detroit police in April after an undercover sting recovered more than $200,000 in stolen fixtures and materials. Police needed 12 hours and two tractor trailers to haul away the stolen items -- including 42 water heaters and 27 furnaces. Neighbors stopped by to praise police; some even applauded.

Police say Heaney, 66, had been a major player in illegal fencing operations. The looting of furnaces, hot water heaters copper pipes and other household fixtures and materials from vacant and foreclosed homes has reached epic proportions across metro Detroit.

According to his April 24 signed statement to investigators, obtained by the Free Press, Heaney told police that he had been buying stolen property for at least seven years, then selling the items to "homeowners, landlords, anyone who walked in" to his business.

Police believe he may have even housed some addicts and other thieves who worked for him in the upstairs of his business. A sign for room rental for $7 a night was found at the business during the raid.

Heaney's explanation: "Possibly greed. I never analyzed it, really," his statement said. "I'm willing to pay for my mistakes."

Heaney spent the night in police lockup and was released the following day. He remains open for business.

Asked several times over the past months by the Free Press why Heaney hasn't been prosecuted, Worthy's spokeswoman Maria Miller said the case was still under investigation. On Thursday, Miller again declined to detail the status of the case for the newspaper.

"The investigation of this matter has been more complicated than most, and for that reason it is taking a longer time to complete," Miller said. "We are unable to comment on any specific details because the investigation is continuing."

Yet, Heaney's lawyer, John Urso, said this week: "I don't know what happened" with the case. Heaney did not return a phone call last week.

Realtors and community groups say people like Heaney essentially create a market for thieves to break into vacant and foreclosed homes.

"If they don't have any place to sell this stuff, it stops," said George Smale, a real estate broker from Coldwell Banker Schweitzer in Grosse Pointe Woods.

And the problem now goes well beyond just stealing copper.