BRISTOL, Conn. — Matthew Yussman, the credit union CFO allegedly abducted by robbers and ordered to drive to his CU to get cash with a bomb around his neck, has failed a portion of a police lie detector test that focused on his involvement in the incidents, according to a just-released search warrant.
The Bristol Press reported that Yussman, CFO at Achieve Financial Credit Union, was given a polygraph test by New Britain police the day of the alleged abduction/robbery attempt. “The results of that test indicated that Yussman showed deception on the relevant test question, ‘Are you lying about your involvement in the home invasion,’” the warrant said.
The Bristol Press quoted New Britain, Conn. Police Chief James Wardwell as saying that Yussman eventually withdrew from the test.
“He made the decision not to continue the interview a short time after,” Wardwell was quoted by the Bristol Press as saying. “He did talk to us for a short time after but then he made the decision to end the interview.”
The warrant, used to search the 46-year-old Yussman’s laptop that police seized from his home, gives the first indication that Yussman may not have fully cooperated with police in the investigation, the Bristol Press reported.
According to Yussman’s account, two men wearing ski masks broke into his Bristol, Conn. home after midnight on Feb. 23 and held he and his mother captive through the night. The men allegedly then told Yussman to drive to Achieve Financial and get cash, while they held his mother captive and tied to a bed, claiming a bomb had been placed beneath the bed.
The plot was allegedly foiled when Yussman called Achieve Financial CEO Andrew Klimkoski, who in turn called police. Police met Yussman at the credit union; no money was ever taken and no one was harmed. Police said the bomb vest he was wearing was fake. Two suspects are being sought.
The Bristol Press reported that the three search warrants were released Wednesday were used to search Yussman’s home, car and laptop. During the search of the home Feb. 23, police seized numerous items, including his laptop, clothing, routers, a vacuum, duct tape, glass cleaner and other miscellaneous items, the newspaper reported. Police also took several DNA swabs in the home and from his 2007 Lincoln MKX.
According to police, Yussman and the two suspects left his home around 3:30 a.m. for approximately 30 minutes on the morning of the attempted robbery. During that time, police said that Yussman told them he was blindfolded and placed in the backseat of his Lincoln. The men, he said, made him lay face down on two pillows they had placed in the car, the warrant said. No reason has been provided for the trip. Police had earlier reported that they found luggage and garbage bags in Yussman's trunk, perhaps to hold the cash. ABC News had also reported that Yussman at one point exchanged texts with the robbers.
Yussman had earlier said the his home had been invaded as he was arriving home from playing hockey. His mother, Valerie Yussman, who lives in an apartment attached to the property, told police that when she went to the garage she found her son facedown with his hands zip-tied behind his back.
Valerie Yussman further told police that the two suspects had handguns and were wearing army fatigue jackets, ski masks and goggles. Later, she said, the suspects took her cellphone and disconnected a landline. Valerie Yussman told police the two men left her juice, lunchmeat and cookies, and duct-taped her legs.
The Bristol Press reported that at some point during the early morning hours, the warrant said, Matthew Yussman went to his mother’s bedroom door to see if she was OK. It didn’t appear that his hands were tied up anymore.
Valerie Yussman told police that over a period of several hours she heard the suspects discussing with her son how much money could be obtained from the credit union, and that they needed the money to repay someone else, or be killed. Prior to leaving in the morning for the credit union, Valerie Yussman said the men told her not to be frightened as they used a vacuum cleaner in the living room.
Previous reporting in CUToday.info, including the 911 transcript, can be found here.