‘Route 29 Batman,’ Who Thrilled Sick Children, Is Struck by Car and Killed
By ASHLEY SOUTHALLAUG

A Maryland businessman who thrilled thousands of sick children with his impersonation of Batman over more than a decade was hit by a car and killed on Sunday on a highway in western Maryland, the state police said.

The man’s real name was not Bruce Wayne, but Leonard B. Robinson, 51, the father of three adult children from Owings Mills, Md., near Baltimore. For years he visited hospitals, schools and charity events dressed as the Dark Knight to the delight of thousands of children battling cancers and other serious diseases as well as bullying. He gave out thousands of dollars worth of gifts and books and signed autographs as “Batman.”

The police said Mr. Robinson was having engine trouble late Sunday and had pulled over on Interstate 70 to look under the hood of his Batmobile, a custom-made black Lamborghini decked out with the superhero’s insignia. He was standing on the car’s passenger side, which was still partly in the fast lane, when he was struck by a Toyota Camry that sideswiped the Batmobile.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Camry was not injured and no charges were filed against him, the police said.

Mr. Robinson gained national attention in 2012 after dash-cam video of him being stopped by police officers in Silver Spring, Md., went viral. He was pulled over for failing to display a license plate, but the officers, who were amused by the encounter, promptly let him go without a ticket so that he would not be late to an event at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. The video has been watched more than 940,000 times on YouTube alone.

“When we replay the traffic-stop video, we smile and laugh, fondly remembering the day that MCP met a real superhero,” the Montgomery County Police Department said in a statement. “We hope that the Dark Knight’s bright light shines on.”

Mr. Robinson, who made a fortune building a cleaning business that he later sold, began masquerading as the Dark Knight in 2001 to cater to an obsession of his youngest son. The boy grew up, but the role grew on Mr. Robinson, who became known variously as the Route 29 Batman, Beltway Batman and Baltimore Batman.

“Eventually, it sinks in and you become him,” he told The Washington Post in 2012. “It feels like I have a responsibility that’s beyond a normal person. And that responsibility is to be there for the kids, to be strong for them, and to make them smile as much as I can.”

Sharen Sumpter-Deitz, a board member of the South Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau in West Virginia, said in a post on Facebook that Mr. Robinson was returning home from his third appearance at a festival there.

He worked closely with Hope for Henry, a charity that throws superhero parties in hospitals and was founded by a couple whose son died from a rare blood disorder. “Our superhero, Lenny B. Robinson, is gone,” the charity said on Facebook on Monday. “So, so sad.”

美慈善志工 「蝙蝠俠」車禍亡

常常打扮成漫畫人物「蝙蝠俠」到醫院探望病童的美國馬里蘭州大善人羅賓遜（Lenny B. Robinson），16日晚間開著「蝙蝠車」行經馬里蘭州州際公路時，車子拋錨下車察看，卻遭後方車輛撞死。

美國「有線電視新聞網」（CNN）引述馬里蘭州海格鎮州警報導，51歲的羅賓遜駕駛由藍寶堅尼跑車改裝的「蝙蝠車」，在車道上拋錨，他下車查看時，被後方一輛豐田車撞上身亡，豐田車主並未受傷。

羅賓遜2001年開始打扮成蝙蝠俠到醫院娛樂病童，原本很少人知道他的故事。2012年他駕駛「蝙蝠車」行經馬里蘭州銀泉29號公路時，因掛著蝙蝠俠圖樣的車牌被警察攔下。後來蒙哥馬利郡警局把影片貼上社群網路，隨著影片瘋傳，羅賓遜這位「29號公路蝙蝠俠」也跟著聲名大噪。

蒙哥馬利郡警局說，聽到羅賓遜驟逝「相當難過」，「影片中警員和羅賓遜的互動正面又有趣，他們彼此尊重，也彼此尊重他們當天盡力要完成的工作」。

羅賓遜經營清潔用品生意，離婚育有3個男孩。他除了自費改裝蝙蝠車、打理蝙蝠俠行頭，每年還花費約2萬5000美元（約台幣80萬元）購買著色本、太陽眼鏡等，到華盛頓與馬里蘭州各地醫院、育幼院等地探視小朋友時送給他們，平均一年「出動」約18次。

每次他穿上蝙蝠裝，大約要花45分鐘，而且會出一身大汗。他說，小朋友都把他當成真的蝙蝠俠，看到他們的笑容，「有如見到奇蹟」。

至於為什麼要扮成蝙蝠俠，羅賓遜說，因為他自己的小孩最愛蝙蝠俠，而且蝙蝠俠其實是普通人，「是所有的超級英雄中唯一沒有超能力的」。他說，從不希望他本人和他的裝扮成為大眾焦點，他表示：「重點在為了小朋友們而來到這裡。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/us/route-29-batman-who-thrilled-sick-children-is-struck-by-car-and-killed.html

Video：The police stopped Batman for not displaying his license plate.
http://youtu.be/a4jpXDKk-rY

2015-08-19．聯合報．A13．國際．編譯組