Florida man charged for attempting to cross Atlantic in giant hamster wheel

MIAMI -- A Florida man is facing federal criminal charges after being stopped on what he claimed was his attempt to journey across the Atlantic Ocean to the UK in a human-sized hamster wheel, local media reported.

The charges follow his interception by the US Coast Guard in late August, when officers spent three days negotiating with Ray "Reza" Baluchi after discovering him on the hamster wheel 70 nautical miles east of Tybee Island, Georgia.

According to a court filing, Baluchi claimed to be armed and threatened to cause harm to himself and officers. The Coast Guard said he "displayed two knives and threatened to use a bomb to blow himself up," according to Fox 35. He later said there was no bomb, the report said.

The incident in August was not the first involving Baluchi and flotation devices, local media reported.

Baluchi has previously been rescued in similar situations in 2014, 2016, and 2021, Fox 35 said.

Images here, released by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, show the hamster wheel after the 2021 incident. On that occasion, local media said Baluchi had been washed ashore while attempting to reach New York.