A Florida man attempting to cross the Atlantic in a ‘human-powered hamster wheel’ has been arrested by the US Coast Guard, court documents show.
Reza Baluchi was 70 miles off the coast of Georgia when officers found him on a ‘definitely dangerous journey’ as Hurricane Franklin was heading towards the area, the US Coast Guard said in a statement on Wednesday. on Facebook.
The Coast Guard said the vessel “was afloat thanks to wiring and buoys.”
Baluchi was arrested on August 28 after a “bizarre three-day standoff” with authorities, the statement said.
At one point Baloch, who refused to get off the ship he was on, brandished ‘two knives and threatened to harm himself’ if officers boarded, according to federal charges filed against him in the Southern District from Florida.
He also ‘threatened to blow himself up’, in which case Coast Guard officers at the scene contacted the US Navy to determine the location of the alleged bomb, but the Baloch later revealed that the bomb was not not real, according to the complaint.
Baluchi told the Coast Guard crew he was trying to get to London on his ‘hydropod’ vessel.
This is not the first time that authorities have discovered Baluchis attempting to cross the ocean in a human-powered vessel. In 2014, the Coast Guard found him 70 miles off the coast of Florida in an inflatable bubble as he attempted to circumnavigate the Bermuda Triangle.
Baluchi is charged with obstructing boarding. Court records show the Baluchis signed bail conditions of $250,000. His lawyer has been summoned to appear, according to court records.
Neither Baluchi nor the public defender representing him immediately responded to requests for comment.
nbcnews