By Payton Tholstrup

Photos courtesy of Candlewood Liquor

The mayor of Manhattan, Kansas has resigned after his arrest in connection with driving under the influence (DUI) Wednesday night in Manhattan.

Mayor Winifred, “Wynn” Butler was involved in a crash that was reported at 8:32 p.m. Wednesday, May 8th at Candlewood Liquor, at 3256 Kimball Avenue in the Candlewood Shopping Center.

According to the Riley County Police Department (RCPD), Butler was driving a gray Infinity car. The car struck the establishment and caused more than $1,000 in damage. No injuries were reported.

Butler said the brakes on his car failed, causing him to go over the curb. The car then went through the front of the store. Butler said he had a “couple of beers” before the incident, which led to the DUI citation. He also said the car has sensors designed to stop the vehicle when obstacles are in front of it, but that they didn’t stop the car that night. He was only able to get the car to stop after it had crashed into the store, he said.

Butler first served on the Manhattan City Commission in 2011. He served as mayor in 2014-2015. He was then re-elected to the commission in 2021.

Commissioner Peter Oppelet said in a video on social media that Commissioner Susan Adamchak will be Pro Temp Mayor. It is unclear at this time how the city commission will try to fill the vacancy or if they will call a special election. Oppelet said they should have that information at their next meeting on May 21st.

That video can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/peter4mhk