NEW BRITAIN, Conn.–The ordeal of Matthew Yussman, the credit union CFO who was held hostage overnight and then sent to his CU’s office with what he was told was a bomb strapped to his chest as part of a robbery attempt, was profiled on NBC’s Dateline program.
The report also profiled three East Tennessee families and others who were terrorized by the same pair of ex-convicts who attempted similar robberies using similar threats that began in employees’ homes.
As CUToday.info reported in 2015, including interviews here, and here, Yussman and his mother were tied up in his home and terrorized overnight by the two robbers, Michael Benanti and Brian Witham. The following February morning, the two men placed what they said was an explosive vest on Yussman and told him to go to Achieve Credit Union and get $4.2-million dollars.
‘Longest Minute of My Life’
Although he said he was told not to contact anyone, Yussman called the credit union’s CEO on the way to get the money. The CEO contacted the police, and Yussman never got further than the credit union’s parking lot. He was uninjured, as was his mother, who said she had earlier untied herself and left the house.
During the Dateline interview, Yussman, referring to the time police had surrounded his car and he had what he believe to be explosives strapped to his chest, said, “The longest minute of my life is when I’m sitting there and I’m staring at my phone and it’s saying 10:59 and you think you’ve got one minute to live. That was pretty awful.
The full Dateline NBC episode can be found here.