Following a bizarre chase through Los Angeles and into the elevator of an Associated Press bureau, engineer Satoshi Nakamoto denied being the creator of Bitcoin, contradicting a major Newsweek story published this morning.

In its story, Newsweek had identified the 64-year-old as the crypto-currency’s creator. Journalists quickly set upon his house in the L.A. suburb of Temple City, where Nakamoto lives his family. Video from the scene showed him leaving with an AP journalist in a Prius—for free lunch, he said.

For reasons not entirely clear, a horde of tech journalists decided to tail Nakamoto and the unnamed reporter, who visited a sushi restaurant before eventually winding up in downtown Los Angeles. They had company:

Los Angeles Times reporter Joe Bel Bruno live-tweeted most of the chase:

As it turns out, Nakamoto and his AP companion were heading to: the AP bureau.

But the chase wasn’t over!

Just as quickly as it began, the feeding frenzy dissipated:

Update, 7:35 PM: The Associated Press reports that Nakamoto is strongly denying the Newsweek report:

In an exclusive two-hour interview with The Associated Press Dorian S. Nakamoto, 64, said he had never heard of Bitcoin until his son told him he had been contacted by a reporter three weeks ago.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]