UPDATE: Man Arrested Following Mahwah Schools Lockdown Monday

A man was arrested after police spotted him near Joyce Kilmer School chased him through the woods Monday morning, police said.

Four schools were placed on lockdown following authorities spotting Christopher Castillo, 19, near Joyce Kilmer School, authorities said.

The Mahwah Police Department received a phone call at 9:26 a.m. regarding a ”suspicious” person near Joyce Kilmer School on Ridge Road, said Chief James Batelli. The man may have been a homeless person living in the woods adjacent to the school and near the Mahwah Public Library.

Officer Keith Iorio saw a white man wearing a hoodie walking near the school, police reported.

When he saw Iorio’s car, Castillo ran away and Iorio and several other Mahwah police officers ran after him, Batelli said.

Lenape Meadows and Joyce Kilmer, Ramapo Ridge Middle School, and Mahwah High School were immediately placed on ”modified lockdown,” police said. The front doors were locked and students were instructed to stay inside their classrooms. The lockdown was in effect for approximately 20 minutes.

Castillo was taken into custody eight minutes after he ran away from police. Castillo was banned from all Board of Education property previously, in writing.

Castillo, whose last known address was in Mahwah, may have been staying in the woods along Ridge Road for the past few nights although police did not know if he is the homeless person reported living in the area this past summer, police said

Authorities searched the area and could not find a homeless camp or place where someone was living for an extended period of time.

Castillo was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, eluding law enforcement, destruction of evidence, and defiant trespassing; he was at police headquarters Monday pending further investigation, police said.