NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (2/25/15)--In a chilling scenario that captured national media attention, a credit union manager was strapped with explosives, kidnapped and forced to drive robbers to the credit union branch where he worked Monday.
Two masked suspects allegedly broke into the Bristol, Conn., home of Matthew Yussman, chief financial officer of Achieve Financial CU (Hartford Courant Feb. 24). The suspects then strapped an explosive device to Yussman. Meanwhile, Yussman's mother was tied to a bed, with another device planted underneath it.
Yussman told police he was then forced to drive the suspects to an Achieve Financial branch in New Britain, Conn., which, sources say, the suspects planned to rob.
The suspects allegedly told Yussman that if he called police or tried to take the device off, they would detonate it remotely from a cellphone (CBS New York Feb. 24). They then instructed him to go to the credit union and bring back money, the source said.
Yussman entered the credit union, where a co-worker apparently called police, who then determined the device was a fake, the source said. The suspects apparently became suspicious and fled.
The New Britain Police Department sent officers to Yussman's home, where they found the Yussman's mother inside and uninjured. Nearby schools were locked down as a precaution, and state police explosives technicians searched the house. No bomb was found.
At the same time, New Britain police were sent to the credit union's parking lot. Officers found Yussman with what appeared to be an explosive device strapped to him. Police kept him in his car, and communicated with him by cellphone.
Officers evacuated buildings, blocked off the neighborhood and closed the nearby Route 72 ramps while explosives technicians worked to be sure the device wouldn't explode.
They declared the area safe at about noon, and police took Yussman from his car to an ambulance.