Maryland Police pull over Batman.

[Masamune]

Comissioner Gordon is gonna be pissed...

Yes, Batman was stopped by officers on Wednesday, March 21, on southbound Route 29 at Prelude Drive, Silver Spring,for no tags on Batmobile.

From the official Montgomery County Police Facebook Album. You can see he has a, "Bat-Tag" on there in place of a proper, legal one. However, "Batman" often goes to Children's Hospitals and Hospices to spread cheer so hopefully they just let him go with a warning.

Howard County Police gave Bats a helping hand before with a flat tire (Robin was apparently busy.)

And The Baltimore Sun

In the movies, Gotham City police required a giant spotlight to find Batman.

Montgomery County police didn't have to go quite so far, finding him cruising around in a Lamborghini Wednesday in Silver Spring and pulling the unidentified man over for not having proper tags. The bizarre picture was posted to the department's official Twitter page today, followed by a note clarifying that the "Batmobile" wasn't towed.

Officer Janelle Smith, a police spokeswoman, said the driver is a Good Samaritan who dresses up as Batman and visits sick children at local hospitals. He has tags for the car, but had removed them and put the Batman logo in place instead. Police told him to affix the tags and sent him on his way.

This of course led to a few quips on the Montgomery County police Facebook page:

"Please people, remember to use your bat signal when you change lanes."

"What a Joker."

"Why so serious, MCPD?"

"Bff! Boom! Pow!"

You get the point.

This comes the same day that cash went flying out of an armored car on I-270 in Montgomery County. State police are asking people who pulled over to grab the money - described as a snow globe of currency - to return it, no questions asked. A strange couple days in Montgomery County, indeed.

[soloist]

Oh goodness! Those officers
better use caution search-
ing him, lest they mist-
akenly activate thos-
e bat-cop repeller-
s (laughs). At l-
east he was-
n't taken
to Ark-
ham:

(Asylum...)



(imagine what the Joker would say...?)

Et tu Batte?

[Masamune]

That one officer up there in the pic looks excited as Hell. Shoot, I would be too! Batman is my all time favorite superhero.

Who is the Route 29 Batman? This guy.

It didn’t take long before images of the Dark Knight’s encounter with law enforcement began turning up in Facebook news feeds, on CNN and the London tabloids. The episode even made it into Jimmy Fallon’s monologue on NBC earlier this week.

Jokers emerged instantaneously too. “Let him do his job,” one commenter urged on the Post Web site. “Batman has expensive taste,” noted another. Meanwhile, questions about Batman’s identity mounted: “Did they make him take off his mask?” someone asked.

No, they did not. Even Montgomery County police honor a superhero code of conduct, just like the Howard County officers who once helped him with a flat bat tire. Batman told officers his real name was not Bruce Wayne but Lenny B. Robinson, and that his real tags were in the car. (He was not ticketed then, but has been before for a heavy bat foot.)

The Caped Crusader is a businessman from Baltimore County who visits sick children in hospitals, handing out Batman paraphernalia to up-and-coming superheros who first need to beat cancer and other wretched diseases....

There is a photo gallery included in the article.

Robinson says of his Batman persona, “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.”

I want to drive to Owings Mills and high five this man. I remember what it was like being stuck in the hospital as a kid. The pain. The loneliness. Fear. Believe me, this guy is doing a lot for these kids.

[soloist]

I hear you, Masa! While I've not been hospital-
bound for more than 5 or 6 hours, I've rela-
tives who've been confined to medical f-
acilities for extended periods of time,
and I could only imagine how much
worse it could be magnifying my
mere hours to days, weeks or
even months. A very cold a-
nd uncaring place it could
be so it helps to have s-
omeone to aid in kee-
ping the spirits up.
This improves al-
so helps to spe-
ed up recove-
ry time sin-
e it keep-
s the fo-
cus off
of th-
e ai-
lment
or the co-
ndition whic-
h is rendering s-
aid person to such
quarters. These are t-
he people who deserve t-
o be paid for their work in m-
y opinion, because the genuinely
lift the hopes of the hopeless... and
that's saying a lot for those in need of
encouragement, inspiration and support.