Portland police Officer John Maul often sits in his patrol car off 82nd Avenue and keeps an eye out for women walking the avenue as prostitutes, or men trying to pick them up.

Maul hears constantly from the citizens who live in the area how

degrades the neighborhood –and as a beat cop who believes in community policing, he tries to do what he can between answering emergency calls.

But this night, the woman he spotted walking southbound on the avenue, with her shoulders hunched over and eyes on the pavement, looked defeated.

"She looked like she needed help," Maul recalled.

Maul pulled up and got out of his cruiser. The woman, who wore a puffy jacket, blue jeans and boots, smiled at the officer, but she couldn't hide her feelings.

"Her eyes started watering up," he said. "I could see she was kind of conflicted about something."

The woman ended up confiding in Maul. About three months earlier, she had met a man on an online dating website, called Plenty of Fish, or POF.com. They talked by phone. Soon, he was wining and dining her. The relationship turned abusive, and now the man was forcing her to prostitute herself. He told her to aim at making $1,000 a night, and not return to the hotel room with less than $600.

The 33-year-old Sandy woman said she had made just under $200 that day, Feb. 14, and was terrified to return to the hotel. She also hadn't eaten because she didn't want to spend the money. Maul took her to a nearby Wendy's, bought her a double cheeseburger, french fries and a soda and listened to her story. He drove her to East Precinct, interviewed her further and connected her to a sex victims advocate, who helped find her a place to stay. Sex assault detectives reached her the next day.

Maul's efforts led to the recent indictment of Dwayne Michael Lauka, 34, on charges of promoting and compelling prostitution. The investigation also led to the discovery of another victim. Police say Lauka was choking another woman on that same night, in the same motel room Lauka had rented using the Sandy woman's credit card.

"It really kind of made me sick to hear her story," Maul said.

Lauka was on federal probation for serious assault in California, convicted of trying to maim and disfigure another person by biting their nose in 2007. He's now facing a federal hold for violation of supervised release, and strangulation, assault and coercion allegations stemming from the second female victim.

East Precinct Sgt. Debbie Steigleder and Multnomah County deputy district attorney J.R. Ujifusa commended Maul for his work.

"Officer Maul...he was fabulous," Steigleder said.

Ujifusa said Maul's keen observation skills in picking up what police call "indicators" and his follow-through helped make the case.

"I think he has an eye for being able to spot something a normal bystander wouldn't," Ujifusa said. "Instead of just observing it and driving by, he took the extra time and care it took in order for the victim to feel comfortable and safe."

Maul, 41, is a 16-year bureau veteran who did a stint in the bureau's Drugs and Vice Division. He said he couldn't miss the despair shown by the woman on the avenue that night.

"She was kind of walking like a zombie, staring at her toes, slumped over," he said. Even when men slowed their cars to try to pick her up, she kept her eyes on the ground.

The woman hadn't been on the streets long, she told Maul. She told police that while dating, Lauka had told her he had just gotten out of prison and was kicked out of a halfway house. She took him into her Sandy apartment. One day, he took her car and got stopped by police for speeding and driving without a license or insurance. Her car was impounded and he called her from jail, asking her to bail him out. She did, and then he persuaded her to rent a hotel room off Northeast 82nd Avenue. He arranged for two men one night to come to the room. When she refused to have sex with them, she told police Lauka beat her. He cleaned out her bank account, took her cell phone, and forced her to walk the streets, she told police.

Maul approached the woman on her fourth day living at the hotel. "She was so embarrassed and humiliated to call her family," he said.

In the past, Maul had been asked to join East Precinct's

. He declined, saying he prefers the variety of calls on patrol, but often assists the team. The district he patrols borders 82nd Avenue. He keeps a notebook on his front passenger seat, with photos of women who frequent the avenue and their information. Sometimes, they approach him.

Earlier this week, two women flagged down his patrol car on 82nd, and told him a friend was being chased by a man a couple of blocks away who had tried to assault one of them the night before.

They hadn't reported the man's assaults in the past because as prostitutes, they're reluctant to contact police. But they told Maul the man often would approach women on the avenue, saying "Hey you want to make some money?" and then pull a woman into an alley or behind bushes, masturbate in front of them and attempt to assault them.

About 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, 30 minutes before the end of his patrol shift, Maul located the man.

Maul worked eight hours beyond the end of his shift, interviewing women who reported getting assaulted by Kavantzas and writing up reports to help detectives pursue more serious charges.

"I got into this business to help people," Maul said. "I want to see these women get out of this life, and I don't want anyone to hurt them."