How is this not a headline more often? Given our current obsession with all things superhero, I'm genuinely surprised that more people haven't committed to taking to the streets in crimefighting comic-book gear and laid waste to potential criminals. That's what happened recently in Fort Worth, Texas, where officer Damon Cole stopped a Walmart shopper from stealing DVDs. The irony? Cole was wearing a Batman suit, and the perpetrator was stealing a LEGO Batman DVD.
Now why, pray tell, is officer Damon Cole wearing a Christian Bale era Dark Knight costume while driving in his patrol car? There's a valid reason. Fox 4 News in Fort Worth verifies that Cole regularly visits with sick and hospitalized children -- something he does in his free time. On this particular day, he was working an event at a local Walmart when he ran into the criminal. Actually, he was summoned by a Walmart community involvement member, and he sprung into action. The man in question was trying to steal four DVDs, one of which was The LEGO Batman Movie. Said Cole, of the odd situation:
You cannot steal my movie. Come on.
What's to come of this sticky-fingered hooligan? Is he off to Arkham Asylum, where he just might share a jail cell adjacent to The Riddler, The Penguin, or the clown prince of crime, The Joker? Hardly. As Fox 4 News reports, because the cost of the four DVDs amounted to less that $100, the guy got off with a citation. He did, however, ask Damon Cole to take a selfie with him while wearing a Batman suit. I guess if you are going to get pinched by the Caped Crusader, you might as well memorialize it for social media.
Batman's a busy hero both on and off the screen. Ben Affleck currently plays the first son of Gotham in the movies that are anchoring the DCEU. He'll next be seen in Zack Snyder's (and Joss Whedon's) Justice League movie, where he and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) will recruit a team of metahumans in a fight against the evil Steppenwolf. After that, Batman is expected to topline his own solo movie directed by War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves. Only, we don't yet know when that movie will film, or be released, so we're kind of in limbo.
And then there's officer Damon Cole, who we can only expect is currently patrolling the streets of Forth Worth, making neighborhoods safer for all concerned citizens. Stay safe, Officer Cole. And if you need him, Texans, just shine a Bat Signal in the sky.
