Dumb news stories

[benji]

A Florida man, who is an ultra-marathon runner, was arrested while allegedly attempting to run across the Atlantic Ocean to London in a makeshift human-sized hamster wheel.

The U.S. Coast Guard first spotted Reza Ray Baluchi's homemade "Hydro Pod vessel" 70 miles off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia, on Aug. 26 in the midst of preparations for Hurricane Franklin, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida. The vessel was afloat by wiring and buoys and can best be described as a hamster wheel. He made a similar attempt in 2021, according to USA TODAY Network partner Daytona News-Journal.

This is not Baluchi's first attempting at crossing the Atlantic. He was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard in a floating "hydro pod" bubble in 2014.

All told, it took the U.S. Coast Guard about five days to bring Baluchi ashore during his latest attempt, according to the complaint. He was apprehended approximately 70 nautical miles east of Tybee Island.

Baluchi initially said his vessel was registered, but later said he couldn't find his documentation. When officers approached the vessel to end a "manifestly unsafe" voyage, Baluchi said he was armed with a 12-inch knife and threatened to die by suicide, according to the criminal complaint.

Another attempt the next day by officers to force Baluchi to disembark also failed after he allegedly threatened to blow himself up. Officers observed him holding wires, prompting them to contact the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit to help determine the blast radius of Baluchi's alleged bomb, according to the complaint. The complaint states that Baluchi admitted the next day that the bomb threat was not real.