AUGUST 17, 2015
I-7-, MARYLAND
Lenny Robinson, a man who spent much of his recent years visiting sick kids in hospitals while dressed as "Batman," died over the weekend when someone hit his "Batmobile" in western Maryland. (Published Monday, Aug. 17, 2015)
Updated 5 hours ago
A Maryland man who visited sick children dressed as Batman died Sunday night after he was struck by his own Batmobile, which had been hit by another driver.
Lenny B. Robinson was driving eastbound on I-70 near Hagerstown when he experienced engine trouble and stopped partially in the fast lane. According to Maryland State Police, Robinson was checking the engine when a Toyota Camry hit his Batmobile. Robinson's custom black Lamborghini, which then struck him.
Robinson, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Camry was not injured.
"He was my brother, my business partner, my best friend,” brother Scott Robinson told the Washington Post. “He touched a lot of lives and made a lot of kids smile. That’s all he wanted to do.”
'Batman': His Life in Pictures
Robinson impersonated Batman for years but became an even bigger celebrity in the region after police pulled him over while he was in costume and driving his black Lamborghini back in 2012.
The officers who stopped him wanted to talk about his Batman-logo license plates, which aren't approved in the state. A video of the stop shows police officers eventually shaking his hand and taking pictures with him.
In a 2012 profile on the charitable Caped Crusader, The Washington Post reported that Robinson spent more than $25,000 of his own money on Batman-related items every year, including toys, T-shirts and books he gave away to kids.
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Bergen County, NJ native who dressed as Batman for hospitalized children dies in highway crash
Sade Baderinwa has the details
By Associated Press
Monday, August 17, 2015 06:50PM
HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- Authorities say a man known for visiting hospitalized children dressed as Batman died in a crash on a western Maryland highway after his Batmobile had engine trouble.
Police say 51-year-old Leonard (Lenny) Robinson of Owings Mills was checking the engine of his Batmobile while standing in the fast lane of eastbound I-70 Sunday night when the car was hit by a Toyota Camry.
The driver of the Camry wasn't injured.
The crash occurred around 10:30 p.m. near the unincorporated community of Big Pool.
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 while he was driving his Batmobile.
The Washington Post reported in 2012 that Robinson spent more than $25,000 of his own money on Batman-related items every year, including toys, t-shirts and books he gave away to kids.
Robinson is originally from Bergen County in northern New Jersey. He leaves behind three sons.