A Staten Island woman who climbed into a clothing drop box suffocated and died inside after the box’s metal door closed on her head and trapped her yesterday, cops said.

Melissa Mazzeo, 51, crawled into the large metal box in Sunnyside at about noon — in an apparent attempt to steal the donated clothing.

Mazzeo was caught in the box’s opening when the door swung shut on her head as she tried to climb out, cops said.

She died with her head outside the box — which sits on Victory Boulevard near Clove Road — and her body still inside.

Mazzeo lived on Sunnyside Terrace near Clove Road, just a few blocks from where she died.

In 2007, both she and her then-12-year-old son were reportedly treated for smoke inhalation after a fire sparked by a space heater engulfed their home.