British tourist hospitalized with serious stab wounds

British tourist was hospitalized with serious stab wounds after a dispute at a Las Vegas business that police say was marketed as a sex spa but apparently operated as a prostitution scam.

Investigators think sex acts were hinted at in the Red Devil Fitness and Spa while patrons were induced to part with hundreds of dollars, Las Vegas police officer Marcus Martin said Monday.

Five women and a man were arrested on charges including racketeering, fraud and conspiracy after the attack a little before 6 a.m. Sunday.

Their names weren't released while police searched for an employee described as a doorman.

"These people get a patron to sign an agreement acknowledging they know prostitution is illegal," Martin said. "Then they continue to lure them into paying more and larger amounts of money. There's no evidence that sex was ever provided."

The injured man was taken to University Medical Center with stomach and head wounds. His identity and hometown weren't made public, and his condition could not immediately be learned. The man was not cooperating with investigators, Martin said.

Prostitution is legal in some rural Nevada counties, but not in the two largest casino cities, Las Vegas and Reno.

Martin said investigators believe taxi drivers helped funnel customers to the business in an industrial area west of the Strip. He characterized the near-fatal dispute as an argument over an implied promise of sex for money.

"The guy argued when it became clear it was a scam, that nothing was going to happen," Martin said. "That's when the bouncer or doorman stabbed him."