Arizona man accused of beating sex worker in Strip hotel room

Las Vegas police arrested an Arizona man accused of choking and sexually assaulting a sex worker last week on the Strip.

Peter Sell, 61, was arrested Aug. 3 and charged with three counts of sexual assault and one count each of kidnapping and battery with intent to commit sexual assault, according to court records.

Officers were called at 5:11 a.m. that day to Paris Las Vegas after a woman reported she had been sexually assaulted and was covered in blood, according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department released Tuesday.

The woman told police she was visiting Las Vegas from Nebraska to work as a sex worker. She met Sell and the pair started drinking at a bar inside Aria before Sell invited her back to his room at Paris.

The two were arguing about the price for sex when the woman said Sell strangled her, punched her in the face and sexually assaulted her.

“Sell punched her in the face approximately 30 times,” police wrote in the report.

A neighboring hotel guest played a two-minute recording for police. Officers said that during the recording a woman is heard screaming “please help” and telling security the man was trying to kill her.

Sell told police he did not remember the argument because he was intoxicated, but police said he did remember fighting with the woman.

He was released on $25,000 bail with a note in the court docket that Sell lives in Arizona and must report to Las Vegas once a week. Court records show a hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8 to prepare for trial.

Caesars Entertainment Corp., which operates the casino, did not respond to an after-hours request for comment on Wednesday.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.