MARYLAND – Leonard Robinson, was fatally struck by a car Sunday night on I-70 after his Batmobile broke down.
A Maryland man who delighted thousands of children by impersonating Batman at hospitals and charity events died when he was hit by a car while standing in the fast lane, checking the engine of his custom-made Batmobile, police said Monday.
Robinson was known for traveling in costume to hospitals in the Baltimore-Washington area and gained national attention in 2012 when dashcam video surfaced of police pulling him over as he drove his Batmobile.
Robinson made his money in the cleaning business. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, his brother said, on his ’60s-style Batmobile, a costume that seemed more real than those in the movies, and the trinkets he handed out to children, always autographed “Batman.”
Robinson’s devastated family and friends gathered Monday at his parents’ home in Owings Mills, Md., remembering him as a son and a brother, an uncle to three nieces and a father to three boys.Though he was divorced and his kids lived in New Jersey, Robinson drove every weekend to pick up his sons and bring them to his home outside Baltimore.
The crash is still under investigation, and no charges have been filed. The driver of the Camry, who was not injured, declined to comment.