E2 asks city where liquor, money went

It appears that Chicago police are confronted by yet another scandal.

While officers guarded the closed E2 nightclub for a roughly 12-month period during 2003 and 2004, the club owners charge their property was looted.

Property owner Lesly Benodin, who is trying to rent the space again, was not allowed inside for a full year as Chicago police investigated the February 2003 stampede that killed 21 people.

Thursday, Benodin said the first-floor bar, with its empty shelves, looks exactly as it did when police returned control of the building to him a year later.

But a law firm videotape, allegedly made one day after the stampede, shows E2's fully stocked bars.

Nightclub owners Calvin Hollins and Dwain Kyles and their attorney are trying to find out what happened to $45,000 worth of booze they allege disappeared during the time the police controlled the building under a court order.

Also missing, according to Hollins and Kyles, are many valuable personal items and $65,000 in cash -- four days' worth of receipts.

They say thousands of dollars were left on office desks where they were being counted and even more was left in several safes around the building.

City lawyers and county prosecutors have alleged that E2's owners illegally crowded more than 1,500 people into the club that tragic night.

Three weeks ago, when the city returned only $800 -- the amount police say was found in the club -- Hollins, Kyles and their lawyer were incredulous.

Police spokesman Pat Camden confirmed Thursday afternoon the matter is under investigation, but he would not comment further.

Hollins and Kyles currently are not asking for their property to be returned, they simply want to know where it is. They also want the city to explain why it should not be held in contempt for not protecting the premises as the court ordered. However, they could be laying the foundation for a lawsuit in the future.