--- title: Man in Batman Mask Tried to Rob Elderly Woman description: A man in a Batman mask attempted an act that is literally the opposite of what the Caped Crusader stands for: rob an elderly woman canonical: https://time.com/2934484/man-disguised-as-batman-tries-and-fails-to-rob-elderly-woman/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-27T20:40:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:11:14.292Z og:title: Man in Batman Mask Tried to Rob Elderly Woman og:description: Very un-heroic behavior og:url: https://time.com/2934484/man-disguised-as-batman-tries-and-fails-to-rob-elderly-woman/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b878f56c4a4d7fc/698699c513c79fdd35192dbd/71144558.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3023 og:image:height: 1700 og:image:alt: Batman And Robin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Man in Batman Mask Tried to Rob Elderly Woman twitter:description: Very un-heroic behavior twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b878f56c4a4d7fc/698699c513c79fdd35192dbd/71144558.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Man Disguised as Batman Tries (and Fails) to Rob Elderly Woman > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jun 27, 2014 8:40 PM UTC  American actors Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin in the TV series Batman, circa 1966 American actors Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin in the TV series Batman, circa 1966 Silver Screen Collection—Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jun 27, 2014 8:40 PM UTC A man in a Batman mask attempted an act that is literally the opposite of what the Caped Crusader stands for: he tried to rob an elderly woman. This is problematic for many obvious reasons. The first: Batman’s bread and butter is _stopping_ hooligans from stealing little old ladies’ purses. Secondly: if Batman _really_ wanted to take the little old lady’s purse, he’d have done it. Of course the actual story isn’t as simple as a Batman turned bad. According to Michigan’s [Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office](http://local.nixle.com/alert/5223639/), the woman went outside to feed her birds Friday morning when a man in a Batman mask took her by the shoulders and asked if her husband was asleep while “gently” leading her to the back door. Unintimidated, the elderly woman told him that her husband was in the bedroom with a loaded shotgun. Batman quickly ran away, hopped the fence, and apologetically told the woman that he was just trying to get money to buy his children food. 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