Crime & Safety

Driver Sentenced in Fatal Sunset Strip Crash

Under a plea deal, Ryan Mathew Bowman has been sentenced to 364 days in a private Los Angeles jail facility.

An Australian businessman, who pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a November collision that killed a 21-year-old woman crossing Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, was sentenced Friday morning at the Beverly Hills Courthouse to just under a year in jail, reported City News Service. 

Under a plea deal, Ryan Mathew Bowman, 34, was sentenced to 364 days in a private Los Angeles jail facility. Four years probation and a nine-month alcohol education program after his release from jail were included under the terms of the plea deal.

Prosecutors said Bowman admitted before Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Elden Fox on March 2 to being the driver of a Bentley that struck and killed Lauren Ann Freeman as she was crossing Sunset Boulevard at Hammond Street in West Hollywood, the District Attorney's office said. 

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Bowman is listed in his public business profile on LinkedIn as the CEO and founder of Zeal Entertainment, a media production and distribution company that has business partnerships with Girls Gone Wild.

The fatal hit and run accident occurred about 11:50 p.m. on Nov. 10. Sheriff's investigators said the driver fled in the car. 

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