The man whose LED-lighted kite made some people think there was a UFO over St. Paul was back to his old hobby this week and ran into trouble.

St. Paul police received reports this summer about unidentified lights in the sky. They found the source on Aug. 20. Ernest Sawka Jr., 34, was flying a kite with small lights attached to a long string.

On that night, officers saw a warrant had been issued for Sawka’s arrest, unrelated to the kite flying. He had pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor theft and was supposed to turn himself in to serve time at the Ramsey County workhouse but hadn’t.

Sawka served his time and got out of the workhouse Sunday, he said.

About 11 p.m. Monday, two people waved down officers, saying they “saw an unidentified object in the air” in the area of Minnehaha Avenue and Etna Street, said St. Paul police spokesman Andy Skoogman. “Our officers knew right away it was a kite with lights on it” because they were aware of the previous case.

Officers checked the area and found Sawka near Etna Street and Reaney Avenue, Skoogman said. He was flying a kite with blue lights on it, on a string that “was hundreds of feet long,” he said.

“Our officers asked him if he was trying to get a rise out of the public by flying his kite at night and he nodded yes,” Skoogman said. “He may think it’s funny, but we think it’s a waste of our resources.”

Police cited Sawka for disorderly conduct, public nuisance and being in a playground after hours.

On Wednesday, Sawka denied telling officers he was trying to get a rise out of the public. “I was doing it because I enjoy doing it, I think it’s cool. I don’t care what the public thinks,” he said.

Sawka said he had asked the officers who stopped him in August whether his kite flying was illegal.

“They said, ‘No, we think it’s pretty cool,’ ” Sawka said. On Monday, when officers approached him, Sawka said he “was nothing but polite” and told them, “If this is illegal, just let me know,” but he said they gave him a hard time and confiscated the kite.

One officer told Sawka, “If I catch you doing this again, I’ll come and find you and put you in jail,” the man said.

Sawka said he’d like to fight the citation.

“Hopefully, the judge will say, ‘You’re here for flying a kite?’ and drop the case,” he said.

Sawka said in August that he’d been sending lighted kites into the sky around St. Paul for about two years. He would put a “kite up a couple hundred feet and then start tying lights to the string,” he said. They’re “little LED bullet lights,” Sawka said.

The St. Paul man said he didn’t set out to make people believe a UFO was above their heads.

Mara H. Gottfried can be reached at 651-228-5262.