NEW YORK – Finding your better half this Valentine’s Day could be as easy as hailing a taxi – especially if Ahmed Ibrahim is in the driver’s seat.

The 53-year-old cupid cab driver, as he refers to himself, has spent the past few years playing matchmaker to lonely New Yorkers, setting up more than 70 dates. Nineteen have led to relationships that lasted more than a year.

Ibrahim planned to decorate his yellow cab with red and white hearts and roses for Thursday.

“I’ve organized so many dates, and it really makes me feel good about it,” Ibrahim said. “I’ve not had one complaint.”

Ibrahim said he offers his matchmaking services to passengers he evaluates by listening to conversations and asking a few questions. He then exchanges phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

“I want to know if they’re the real deal or just a player,” he said. “If you’re a player, then forget about it.” One of his clients, Martin Karamon, said he successfully found romance through the cupid cab’s services. The relationship ended after about six months, though the two remain friends.

“I might have to get in his cab again because I just broke up with my girlfriend,” said Karamon, 37.

Sherriff’s deputy spends 14 hours locked in tunnel

MADISON, Wis. – A sheriff’s deputy wound up stuck for 14 hours in an underground tunnel used to move jail inmates to a courthouse because no one was there to unlock the door.

When Dane County Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Hafeman entered the 8-by-8-foot passageway leading to the tunnel Friday afternoon, the guard who controls the heavy metal doors on each side had gone home for the weekend.

“This is an area that, again, is secure, and the doors lock behind you as soon as you enter,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Elise Schaffer said Monday. “And once you’re in, you’re really at the mercy of the controller to let you in or out.”

Hafeman, a 14-year member of the sheriff’s department, was not discovered until his wife called police because he never returned from work. Detectives found Hafeman’s car parked in the county ramp and traced him to the tunnel.

Schaffer wasn’t sure why Hafeman, who was unhurt, had entered the tunnel in the first place.