Australian businessman accused of killing woman in West Hollywood crosswalk
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An Australian businessman has been arrested in connection with the death of a 21-year-old woman who was struck and killed by a Bentley while crossing Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said Thursday.
Ryan Bowman, 43, was booked on suspicion of manslaughter after surrendering Thursday afternoon to deputies at the sheriff’s West Hollywood station.
Bowman is suspected of being behind the wheel of the Bentley that slammed into Lauren Ann Freeman as she was in the crosswalk at Hammond Street about 11:50 p.m. Wednesday. Freeman’s body was thrown about 50 feet after the collision.
Sheriff’s investigators said Bowman fled in the car, and debris found at the scene suggested that the vehicle could have been a dark-colored Bentley.
They later found the luxury vehicle abandoned in a residential neighborhood near the intersection of Melrose Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard about 1 1/2 miles from the incident. That led them to Bowman, said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.
“Bowman’s attorney contacted us and surrendered her client to West Hollywood detectives,” Whitmore said.
Bowman was held on $100,000 bail.
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