Maryland man driving Batmobile replica takes matters into his own hands after hit-and-run

BURTONSVILLE, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Bill Gibson usually drives his custom-built, 1966 Batmobile replica, worth around $175,000, out on the roads -- from one fun event to the next across the region. Recently, he found himself living out a childhood dream and fighting crime as Batman, as first reported by MoCo Show.

"The rocket launchers work, the jet flame works out the back. The bat phone plugs into my cellphone so I can make calls on the bat phone, the radar screen lights up. There's a projector on the front of the car that projects the bat symbol on the road in front of me at night… Yeah, it's crazy," said Gibson.

This past weekend as Gibson was cruising along Route 28 near Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, a careless driver crashed right into his beloved Batmobile.

"I don't know what the guy was thinking, he must have been going about 60, ya know, and just slammed into the right rear corner," said Gibson.

Gibson was in shock. He started to pull over, expecting the driver to follow, but instead, Gibson says the other driver sped up and took off.

"So I dial 911 and I'm chasing him," said Gibson. "I'm chasing him down and he pulled into a church parking lot. He came out, got out of his car, looked at the car and tried to offer me money, which, of course, wasn't going to happen."

Gibson says the man eventually agreed to hand over his information without getting the police involved, but he's now on the hook for damage done to a superhero's ride who jumped into action to stop one of the bad guys.

"I'm a pretty determined fella and if somebody does something like that I'm going to be on 'em… can't let 'em get away with that," said Gibson.

Police did not charge the driver with a hit-and-run, but his insurance is covering the repairs that could cost more than $7,000.

Gibson says he hopes his Batmobile is fixed this weekend when it's supposed to be on display at the National Harbor.