Batman may not actually exist, but a Bradford, Yorkshire man is doing his best to make up for it: on Feb 25th, he was caught on camera handing over a wanted criminal to the local police station, then quickly disappearing into the dark veil of the night just like his namesake.
According to the Guardian, the less-than-svelte hero has yet to be identified, while police note that the suspect did not appear to resist the tender mercies of The Batman — indicating that the turn-in may have been agreed to previously by both parties.
The 27-year-old perp was charged with "handling stolen goods and fraud-related offenses," and will appear in court on March 8th, according to Sky News.
Who is that masked man? A local costume store owner reported selling a Batman costume to a 20-something man earlier in the week, wrote the BBC, who noted that he had a "local accent."
"Usually they want the Dark Knight costume but he wanted this one," said the store owner. "He wanted the one with the muscly chest as well." She has sworn to keep his identity secret.
The Bradford Police have taken a decidedly light-hearted approach to their friendly neighborhood Batman, keeping locals appraised of new developments in the case on their Facebook page, calling it a "very strange occurrence."
The faux Batman may very well be a member of a particularly interesting subculture devoted to acting out superhero fantasies in the real world, complete with costumes and vigilante behavior. (On the whole, is it really sillier than Fantasy Football?)