A Florida man was arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) last month after he attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a homemade contraption similar to a human-sized hamster wheel.
Reza Baluchi, 44, was arrested on Aug. 26 about 110 kilometres (70 miles) off Tybee Island, Georgia, according to a criminal complaint.
Baluchi, who is a marathon runner, allegedly told USCG officials he was attempting to “run to London” in his floating wheel constructed from wiring and buoys. The wheel — or as Baluchi calls it, the “bubble” — is equipped with paddles that turn as someone runs inside.
Members of the USCG asked Baluchi “standard boarding questions” about his vessel, including a request for proper registration. After Baluchi insisted the wheel was registered in Florida, but failed to produce the paperwork, USCG officials determined he was attempting “a manifestly unsafe voyage.”
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When asked to disembark from his wheel, Baluchi said he was carrying a 12-inch knife and threatened to kill himself. He also threatened to blow himself and his vessel up while “holding wires in his hand.” Baluchi later confessed to a USCG officer that he did not have a bomb in his possession.
He was escorted back to shore and brought to a USCG base in Miami, Fla.
Baluchi has allegedly attempted voyages in a similar vessel on three other occasions in 2014, 2016 and 2021, all of which were also shut down by the USCG.
He now faces federal charges of obstruction of a boarding and violation of a Captain of the Port order.
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