Cops save teen stuck in mailbox

Tuesday, July 17th 2007, 4:00 AM

A teenage boy climbed into a mailbox in Brooklyn yesterday and had to be rescued by police when the large green bin locked behind him, cops and neighbors said.

Rising to the challenge of a dare, the 16-year-old climbed into the box about 4:45 p.m. after his pals had shimmied it open at Avenue W and E. 27th St. in Sheepshead Bay.

Police freed him from the mailbox – used only by the U.S. Postal Service for storage – some 15 minutes later, police said. No charges were leveled against the teenagers.

“Kids will be kids, but I don’t think this is funny. It’s a big waste of city resources having cops out here because some dumb kid locked himself in a mailbox,” said 28-year-old Jason Irgang, a sales manager who lives nearby. “It’s not right. What if our mail got destroyed? The city should make it harder to open the green mailboxes.”

One cop at the scene couldn’t believe what had happened.

“I thought they were joking when they called here asking for the postal police,” she said.

It was unclear if the teen was acting on a double-dog dare.

Adam Edelman and Michael White