Questions: Matthew Yussman failed part of a lie detector test after claiming he'd been held hostage
A credit union manager who told police he was held hostage, strapped with explosives and ordered to rob $4.2 million from the bank failed part of a lie detector test, it has emerged.
Matthew Yussman, 46, had claimed two masked men ambushed him in his home in Bristol, Connecticut in the early hours of February 23 and held him and his mother captive.
The next day, they ordered him to rob two Achieve Financial Credit Union branches, he said. He was ultimately found outside one of the banks with a device strapped to his chest, while his mother was discovered on her bed with another explosive beneath it. Both bombs turned out to be fake.
Police previously said they had not determined if Yussman was a victim or a suspect but it has now emerged that he gave deceptive answers during a lie detector test the night of the attempted heist.
He apparently lied while answering a question about his involvement in the home invasion, according to the Bristol Press, citing a search warrant for Yussman's home.
New Britain Police Chief James Wardwell said Yussman later withdrew from the test.
'He made the decision not to continue the interview a short time after,' Wardwell told the Press.
The details emerged in search warrants secured this week for Yussman's home, car and laptop.
Authorities previously took items, including his laptop and routers, and swabs from his home, and are investigating his cellphone and garbage bags taken from his car, among other items.
The suspects reportedly ambushed Yussman in his garage as he returned home around 12.30am.
Attempted heist: Police swarm around the Achieve Financial Credit Union in New Britain, Connecticut on February 23 after Yussman was found in the parking lot with a device strapped to his chest
Scare: Armored vehicles were seen on the scene before investigators learned the device would not go off. Yussman said two men stormed into his home that morning and took and his mother hostage
When his mother, who lives in an apartment on the side of the home, noticed he had failed to go inside, she checked on him and found him face-down with his hands zip-tied behind his back.
Valerie Yussman, 70, told police that she saw the two 'well-spoken and polite' armed men in the garage and that they ordered her to stay on her bed.
The men took Yussman from the home for 30 minutes around 3.30am after unplugging Mrs Yussman's phone, leaving her food and using duct tape to pin her to the bed.
Her son told cops he was blindfolded and put in a car before they drove around for 30 minutes and returned to the house. It is not clear why they left the home.
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ShareValerie Yussman told police that she overheard the men saying they owed someone money and would kill the Yussmans unless they paid them.
Her son and the men left later that morning after vacuuming a couple of rooms, she said.
Around 8am, the bank's president called 911 and said Yussman had called him to explain his predicament, but told him not to call police.
Minutes later, police found Yussman alone in his car outside the New Britain branch of the credit union and determined that the device on his chest was not going to detonate.
Public works trucks were brought to the scene as 'shields' because they would be large enough to withstand a blast or stop a car from fleeing if needed, Wardwell said.
Probe: Yussman, the manager of a Achieve Financial Credit Union branch (pictured), remains under investigation and search warrants have been granted for his home, car and laptop this week
The suspects had disappeared by the time police arrived. They are believed to have fled in a vehicle that looked like a white older model four-door Mazda, according to reports at the time.
The incident sparked a massive police response involving dozens of officers and SWAT equipment. Schools were put on lockdown and roads were closed.
Yussman was handcuffed and taken to the hospital, where he was for exposure to freezing temperatures while having to sit in the unheated car.
His mother was not hurt.
The investigation is continuing. No arrests have yet been made but police previously said they were looking for two suspects.
'We're considering all possibilities, whether or not [Yussman] was coerced, doing something against his will, or a suspect,' Wardwell said following the incident.
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