NEW YORK — Police have arrested a man on arson charges in connection with the fire in a parking garage that damaged dozens of vehicles and sent thick black smoke billowing over a Brooklyn neighborhood.

Twenty-three-year-old Avon Stephens, of Brooklyn, was arrested Monday, hours after the fire broke out on two floors of the four-story garage at around 9 a.m. in the Mill Basin neighborhood. The Kings Plaza mall was closed as a result.

Fire officials say 21 people were injured. All but three of them were firefighters. None of the injuries are considered life-threatening.

It took nearly three hours to get the fire under control. The cause is under investigation.

It wasn't clear if Stephens had a lawyer who could comment.