Kids’ hero Batman killed in accident

HAGERSTOWN, Maryland: He dressed up as a dark, brooding crime fighter but spent years bringing delight to children at hospitals and charity events.

Leonard B Robinson, known for dressing up as Batman, was killed along a highway when a car hit him while he was checking the engine of his custommade Batmobile.

Robinson, 51, of Owings Mills, Maryland, was returning from a weekend festival in South Charleston, West Virginia, when he was struck by a Toyota Camry around 10.30pm on Sunday, west of Baltimore.

Robinson had pulled his car onto the median, with the passenger side partly in the traffic lane, police said on Monday.

Police said the Camry also sideswiped the red-and-black Batmobile, a replica of the car used in the 1960s Batman television show. The Camry driver, a 39-year-old man, wasn’t hurt and hasn’t been charged.

Police said Robinson’s car was uninsured and had a Maryland licence, 4BATMAN, that was issued to another vehicle.

Robinson, co-owner of an appliance repair business in Falls Church, Virginia, began visiting hospitalised children in 2001, masquerading as his son’s favourite superhero, according to Robinson’s website, www.superheroesforkids.org

He gained national attention in 2012 when dashcam video surfaced of police in Silver Spring, Maryland, pulling him over while he was driving his black Lamborghini – not the Batmobile replica – dressed as Batman. Robinson traded the Lamborghini for the Batmobile later that year.

He visited hospitals, schools and charity events, handing out toys and T-shirts, giving “Batman” autographs and discouraging kids from bullying, according to his website and his father, Larry Robinson.

The Washington Post reported in 2012 that Robinson spent $25 000 of his own money on Batman-related items for kids every year. – AP