The Selma Times-Journal

Entrepreneur Edward Glover says he was gearing up to open a mobile home fabrication facility when crime struck … again.

“We were going to announce the opening of the factory within a year,” he said.

The business, Global manufacturing, located at 3131 Old Montgomery Road was broken into and its industrial strength powerhouse built to supply 13,000 volts of electricity to the factory was ransacked and destroyed, along with a fence and wall, he said.

The incident occurred sometime between March 10 and March 15 while Glover was out of town.

Law enforcement officials could not comment on the case, except to say that Det. Tommy Buford is working it and it is currently under investigation.

This is not the first time Global has been hit. Last year, the business was burglarized and nearly $100,000 worth of construction equipment was stolen, including power tools, utility trailers and even telephone poles, according to police reports.

The perpetrators were captured, convicted and have gone to jail. Police recovered much of the stolen equipment, said Glover.

Since that time, Global has been vandalized several times, but this last hit was a critical blow and may have knocked the legs out from under the business.

“They did serious damage to it this time,” he said.

The estimated cost of the property damage totals about $52,600 in equipment and labor that would be needed for repairs, he said.

Glover had hoped to employ about 700 people at the facility, but now he is having second thoughts about doing it at all.

“I don’t know if it’s feasible to move forward with it or not at this point,” he said.

A savvy businessman, Glover owns several interests in Selma, including mobile home parks and two popular restaurants: The Pancake House and The Steak Pit.

This last hit, however, wasn’t a robbery, said Glover. The vandals did not take any valuables or items to sale, but simply sabotaged his ability to get the business up and running. He indicated that he thinks he knows who committed the crime but declined to discuss specifics since the case is still under investigation.