Real life heroes don’t wear capes or drive crazy cars … unless they’re named Lenny Robinson. Lenny was often referred to as “Baltimore Batman,” for his act of dressing up as Batman, driving around in a blacked-out Lamborghini Gallardo “Batmobile” and visiting terminally ill children in hospitals.
After selling his cleaning business, the Maryland native decided he wanted to help his community by putting smiles on children’s faces when they had little to smile about. Since Robinson wasn’t a Hollywood movie star, he decided that the best way to fulfill kids’ hero fantasies was to become Batman, offering rides in his Batmobile and putting on a show at local hospitals.
Tragically, Robinson was killed late Sunday night when his “custom-made vehicle” stalled “partially in the fast lane,” due to engine failure. While Batman was checking on his vehicle, he was hit by a driver in a Toyota Camry and was pronounced dead on site. The driver of the Camry was uninjured.
Robinson’s Batman gig wasn’t the only of its kind. He was the president of Superheroes for Kids Inc., a group of like-minded individuals who suited up to visit sick children. Baltimore Batman became famous when a video of cops pulling over his Lamborghini went viral, and it was reported that over $25,000 of his own money was spent on toys for kids.
Just before the fatal crash, Robinson was giving generously of his time and wealth, as usual. From The Washington Post:
Robinson had just stopped at a gas station, where he met a family whose children were interested in his custom-made car, Maryland state police in Hagerstown said. Robinson gave the kids some superhero paraphernalia before leaving about the same time as his new acquaintances. When they saw him pull over, they did the same and witnessed the 10:30 p.m. accident, state police said.
While Baltimore Batman will no longer be visiting kids in need of a smile, it’s a fair bet that his kindness will inspire more individuals to volunteer time and money for children in need. In fact, Foundation 4 Heroes is another Maryland-based volunteer organization purely funded by donations from the community. With several costume-clad volunteers, F4H runs fundraisers and events for kids, and visits children in DC-area hospitals. If what Lenny and others like him have done and continue to do for their communities resonates with you, I’d encourage you to give of your time or resources. As Lenny proved, it does make a difference.
Update on 8-19-2015 by Miles Branman: An earlier version of this article mentioned that the vehicle Lenny Robinson was driving before his accident was a Lamborghini, based on the report from The Washington Post. It is unclear if it in fact was his Lamborghini Gallardo, so we have corrected the article to reflect the police report’s note of a “custom vehicle”. Digital Trends has reached out to the Maryland Police Department for more information and will update this article when they reply.
