By Charles Sweeney Brooklyn Daily Eagle

SCHERMERHORN STREET — Three weeks after a body was discovered in the woods of Prospect Park, a 26-year-old man was arraigned Wednesday and held without bail.

Santiago Perez pleaded not guilty to murder and robbery charges.

Police on Tuesday made the arrest in connection with the death of a 41-year-old man whose body was discovered by park workers in a wooded area near Prospect Park Southwest last month.

On the morning of July 30, park employees working near the wooded area known locally as “Lookout Hill� made the gruesome discovery when they stumbled upon the lifeless body of Mohammed Afzal, who lived on 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst.

Police and emergency responders at first did not consider the case a homicide, though subsequent investigations led police to begin a search for suspects with a focusing of efforts on Lookout Hill. It is known as a gay “cruising� spot—where men meet in the relative anonymity provided by the thick wooded overgrowth of the surrounding trees.

Nearly three weeks after the incident, detectives from the 78th Precinct Squad developed information that led to the eventual arrest on Tuesday afternoon of Perez, charging him with murder and robbery in connection with Afzal’s killing.

One source with knowledge of the investigation said police believed Perez, described as a homeless man, posed as a male prostitute in order to lure Afzal into the wooded thicket. Once out of sight, Afzal was hit in the back of the head with some type of heavy, solid object, causing the severe blunt trauma that the City Medical Examiner had placed as the cause of death in the official report.

Though official police press-releases describing the incident make no mention of the circumstances of the murder, questions about the incident based on the location of the crime were on the minds of some in the area yesterday afternoon.

Though one person speaking on the condition of anonymity expressed concern that criminals “prowl� the area “victimizing� gay men, Lookout Hill nevertheless remains a popular cruising spot.

Past cases in which a homicide victim was chosen based on his or her sexual identity have triggered the application of Hate Crime statutes, though it remains to be seen if Perez’ case will be treated in a similar fashion.

Perez faces up to 25 years to life behind bars if convicted of second-degree murder.

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