Vicksburg Mayor Paul Winfield’s personal vehicle was stopped Wednesday night for a traffic violation, Police Chief Walter Armstrong said this morning.

Winfield was driving his 1956 Mercedes SL 190 convertible when it was stopped near Washington and First East streets for failing to come to a complete stop at the intersection, Armstrong said. He said the mayor received a verbal warning from Patrolman Cleon Butler.

As the officer — who had used his cruiser’s blue lights to make the stop — approached the mayor’s car on foot, Armstrong said, Winfield asked that he be allowed to drive to a well-lighted spot. Butler agreed, and both cars proceeded to LD’s Kitchen, about two blocks away, at 1111 Mulberry St.

Armstrong said Winfield recognized the officer as a man with whom Winfield’s former chief of staff, Kenya Burks, has been in a personal relationship. Burks in February filed a federal lawsuit against the city, and later Winfield personally, for about $1.5 million for sexual harassment. She claims she was terminated from her $70,000-a-year position after she ended a sexual relationship with the mayor. The mayor has denied any personal relationship with Burks.

Armstrong, who said he was walking near LD’s after attending a preview at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lower Mississippi River Museum and Riverfront Interpretive Site, less than a block away, said he saw Winfield, Butler and others standing outside and approached to see what was happening.

“He said he wanted to give the mayor a written warning and wanted his license and registration,” Armstrong said. “I told him to give him a verbal warning, and he didn’t need the mayor’s license for that. He knew who he was, he had seen the mayor before. He gave him the warning and went back on duty.”

Lt. Jackie Johnson, head of the VPD Traffic Division, said officers typically do driver’s license checks even on warnings, but it is up to the officer’s discretion.