Florida man riding human-sized hamster wheel in Atlantic Ocean faces federal charges

MIAMI (AP) — A Florida man who was attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a man-made hamster wheel is facing federal charges after it took the U.S. Coast Guard five days to bring him ashore. According to a criminal complaint filed in Miami the Coast Guard spotted 51-year-old Reza Baluchi Aug. 26 off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia. He’s charged with obstruction of boarding and violation of a captain of the port order. Baluchi told the Coast Guard he was attempting to ride the “hydro-pod” vessel to England. The officers said the vessel was “afloat as a result of wiring and buoys” and determined that Baluchi was conducting “a manifestly unsafe voyage.”