LAPLACE — Pressure from police and help from the faith community led to a nonviolent arrest Sunday of a LaPlace carjacking suspect, police said.

“We put tremendous pressure on him, and eventually he did a very wise thing,” St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said. “He went to one of our local pastors and told the pastor he needed help, was in trouble with law enforcement and wanted the pastor to come to the Sheriff’s Office and turn himself in.”

Tregre said that relationship with Pastor Freddie Howard led 54-year-old Troy Michael Campbell of LaPlace to turn himself in Sunday on armed robbery with a firearm and carjacking charges.

“That is the kind of cooperation I like to hear and see with the clergy in St. John Parish,” Tregre said. “This is not the first time clergy has assisted us in having someone turn themselves in.”

Police believe the suspect carjacked a female victim at approximately 8 a.m. Saturday along Belle Terre Boulevard, fleeing the scene in the victim’s Ford Mustang.

The vehicle was later located the same day in the Belle Point subdivision.

According to Tregre, “drug addiction” is considered a motivating factor in the case, which is being forwarded to the district attorney’s office.

Campbell is being held behind bars in lieu of a $55,000 bond.