Larry Mongo (center) and Jaden Geck (left) and his father next to Mongo. Also, waiter. (Facebook photo)
Update: 8;30 p.m. Friday -- Larry Mongo, owner of Cafe d'Mongo's Speakeasy, met today at Lafayette Coney Island in downtown Detroit with the 21-year-old man who threw a chair through the front window of his bar early Sunday morning.
"The Geck Father and Son met Larry at Lafayette Coney Island to apologize and deliver a cashiers check for all expenses to repair our window," said a Facebook posting on Friday. "All is well… Thank you Larry and the Geck Family for sharing a terrific outcome with the world!"
Jaden Geck of St. Clair County, was arrested Wednesday and charged with malicious destruction of property. He was arraigned Thursday and released on a $50,000 personal bond, which means he did not have to post any money.
From Thursday
Larry Mongo, owner of Cafe d'Mongo's Speakeasy on Griswold in downtown Detroit, spoke Thursday by phone with the man who threw a chair through the bar's front window early Sunday morning after closing.
Jaden Geck, 21, of St. Clair County, was arrested Wednesday and charged with malicious destruction of property. He was arraigned Thursday and released on a $50,000 personal bond, which means he did not have to post any money.
"I'm actually speaking to the young man who broke my window and how he almost got a homeless man killed," Mongo posted on Facebook, along with a video of the phone call. "If I would have slept over Saturday night as I do sometimes, the homeless man might have lost his life because he is the one that set the alarm off and I would have come downstairs and confronted him (Armed,) and who knows what could have happened."
Geck, who had attended a concert earlier in the evening, according to Mongo, was walking by the bar around 3:45 a.m. when he took an outdoor chair and tossed it through the window before running off. About 45 minutes later, a homeless man climbed through the window, then exited minutes later after stealing $6. He was not charged.
During his phone conversation, Mongo said Geck, who owns a construction-related business, apologized and said he would come down to the bar Friday to pay $3,000 for the damage. He did not explain why he broke the window.
Mongo said the guy's 19-year-old brother, who uses a wheelchair, called first to apologize and say that it was out of character for his brother, who takes him everywhere. Mongo said the younger brother touched his heart with the phone call.
Mongo also spoke to the father, and said he realized they were a good family.
"I told his father, "let your son know that I'm going to make sure his record is clean. I'm going to ask the court to erase his conviction after a year."
Video shows the man breaking window
