Sunset Blvd Hit and Run Accident Scene

WEST HOLLYWOOD -- An Australian businessman arrested in connection with the hit-and-run death of a 21-year-old woman on Sunset Boulevard operates a company that runs the Australian version of "Girls Gone Wild."

Ryan Bowman, 43, was booked on suspicion of manslaughter after surrendering Thursday afternoon to deputies at the sheriff's West Hollywood station.

Bowman is a director of Zeal Entertainment, which owns the rights to "Girls Gone Wild" for Australia.

Authorities say 21-year-old Lauren Ann Freeman had just left a concert at the Roxy Theatre around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday when she and a group of friends crossed Sunset Blvd. at Hammond St. to reach a taxi.

Freeman was in a crosswalk when she was struck by a dark-colored Bentley and thrown more than 50 feet.

She died at the scene. No one else was hurt.

The vehicle was found along Westmount Drive, west of La Cienega Blvd., several hours later. The engine was still running.

Late Thursday, Bowman turned himself in. "Bowman's attorney contacted us and surrendered client to West Hollywood detectives," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

"He invoked his 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination and we booked him on [charges of] vehicular manslaughter."