California filmmaker linked to an anti-Islamic movie says he won't return to besieged home

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Authorities say a Southern California filmmaker linked to an anti-Islamic movie inflaming protests across the Middle East was interviewed Saturday at a Los Angeles sheriff's station and afterward decided not to return to his home -- possibly heading into hiding.

Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County sheriff's department, says Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was interviewed by federal probation officers for about half an hour at the station shortly after 12 a.m. in his hometown of Cerritos, Calif.,.

After that, deputies dropped the 55-year-old Nakoula off at an undisclosed location.

Whitmore says "He is gone. We don't know where he went," adding, "He said he is not going back to his home."

Federal officials are investigating whether Nakoula, who has been convicted of financial crimes, has violated the terms of his five-year probation. If so, a judge could send him back to prison.

 Nakoula pleaded no contest to bank fraud charges in 2010 and was banned from using computers or the Internet or using false identities as part of his sentence.