The vault. A highspeed car chase. Hes just hit a third vehicle. Stop how did the gunman know everything about their victims . Their secret weapon could turn everyone into a potential target. They would find people on social media. Be careful what you put out for the world to see. Its a mouse click way. Its a beautiful september day in the western mountains of North Carolina. A beautiful stretch of interstate. North carolina state Highway Patrol is running radar. And you see a ford edge blow right by. It started off as a routine traffic stop. But it was anything but routine. All of a sudden you see the suv pull over. You see the passengers side door open briefly and then shut and then take off again. You hear the sirens. You hear the unmistakable roar of the engine. You see the vehicle swerve into the big truck. It takes off its drivers side mirror. Goes flying off. And you see the brake lights go on. And then you see him rammed side. Hes just hit a third vehicle. Stop our story begins in 2015 with 46yearold matt yusman, a Financial Officer of a credit union in central connecticut. Ive been playing hockey for 30something years, play every week, sometimes twice a week, all sturm long, all winter long. Money management pays his bills, but hockey fuels his passion. Hes the goalie for a team called the trash pandas. So your league plays on sunday night. Howd you do that night . We won the game, which was a good thing, but it was a latenight game. Matts glow from a victory that night ended after he headed home. He pulled up to the garage of his bristol, connecticut house around midnight. He didnt know two men were watching. I would just open the garage door, get out, take all my equipment out because im a goalie, i have a large bag. Matts 70yearold mother vallie, a retired nurse, was inside the home they shared, watching the academy awards. Matt moved his mom into the house after his dad, her husband of 40 years, had passed away. It was the night of the oscars, and they didnt finish till it was just about midnight or a few minutes after. And it was right after that when i heard the garage door open. As im walking back to the car to pull it in i see somebody coming, running down my driveway yelling get on the ground. And i see hes pointing a gun at me. Tells me to kneel on the garage floor. As im kneeling there, he walks up behind me and ticks the gun right behind the back of my ear, presses it against my head, and says lie face first on the ground. You heard him when he arrived home. Yes. And i was waiting for him to come into the house. And he wasnt coming in. As im being ziptied, i look up and i see another guy running down the driveway. Matt says the gunmen were covered head to toe in multiple layers of heavy clothing and black ski goggles. Based on matts recollection we created these images of the men. Could you make out their faces . No. They had no distinguishing things i could see. Did you know what race they were . Everything was covered. The only features he could make out, one was a tall slender guy, the other heavyset. I got up to go out to the garage and when i went out there i saw matt laying face down in the garage and there were two masked gunmen over him holding guns on him. One of the gunmen swung around with his gun and pointed it at me. And said come down into the garage here. He said kneel beside your son. So this is all going bad very quickly. Yeah, this is going bad very quickly. I went down, and i knelt beside my son and i said please dont hurt us. Please dont hurt us. I said, we will do whatever you want. Mother and son quickly realized they were the victims of a home invasion. Neighbors couldnt see what was happening because their ranch house is set far back from the road on an isolated culdesac. And i guess youre thinking this is going to play out hopefully in the garage and well get past this. That was my whole thing was, you know what, take what you need, leave me, go, and i thought that was going to be the end of it. But it moves into the house. But it moves into the house. Inside matt was led to a couch. They immediately put a small knit hat over my head and duct taped the hat to my head so i couldnt see anything. Why didnt they just grab some valuables and leave . He could never have guessed what their villainous plan for him really was. Coming up this was much more than just a home invasion. The gunmen say they have a problem. And matt jusman is the solution. We owe some very bad people a lot of money and youre going to get it for us. How much money . 4. 2 million in cash. And that was nothing compared to what matt heard next. They said this is c4 explosive. Were going to make an explosive device and were going to strap it to you. And matts mom . She was in danger too. 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Two armed masked men were holding matt jusman and his mother hostage in their connecticut home. Matts mom was brought into their bedroom where they turned up the volume on her tv. She says she was instructed to lie down on the bed and stay there. Then she was left alone. But she could hear something alarming going on in the other room. Thats where matt was seated on a couch, his hands zip tied, his eyes covered with a blindfold. I tried to listen to what they were saying to matthew. They were putting on some headphones on him. I heard them say that. They put earphones on. And im just getting static and static. And i dont know whats going on. And all of a sudden i get a voice that sounds very synthesized, electronic, and the very first then they said to me was this is not a robbery. This is not a typical home invasion. By using a device like this the kidnappers [ disguised voice ]. Could disguise their voices. That gave me the creeps because that sounds very similar to what they did. Then they outlined their complex big plan, explaining why mom and son were being held captive. Were looking for a large sum of money. We owe some very bad people a lot of money, and youre going to get it for us. How much money . It was very specific. They said to me we want 4. 2 million in cash. And there was Something Else that was unusually specific. The kidnappers knew intimate details about matts life. They knew where i work, what i did. I had my mother in the house. Matt, the cfo of a chief financial credit union, was told the next morning he would go to one of his branches and take 4. 2 million out of the vault. Matt told them a credit union would never have that much money on hand. Still, he could get them something. This is where i lie for the first time and im like, i can get you guys a Million Dollars. And they said oh, a million dolla dollars. Hours passed. Matt says he sat on that couch tied up and blindfolded worning who was going to happen next. It had to be around 3 00 in the morning i think. They get me up and they say you know, what were going for a ride. That was the second time i got really scared because now im like theyre taking me away from the house. Thats a line out of the bad movies, were going to take you for a ride, right . Yes. The gunmen next went into his moms room carrying rolls of heavyduty duct tape. They told her she was going to stay behind. And they wrapped my feet with duct tape to the bottom of my bed. They said just a precaution so i wouldnt go anyplace while they went away. And i said i will stay wherever you put me. I didnt dare try to get out of the bindings. Matt says he found himself in the back seat of one of the two vehicles he owns. They had actually put a pillow in the back seat of the car. Dont know why. But they told me to stick my face into the pillow and not to move. We then proceed out my driveway. And we drove for maybe 15 minutes. We parked, and i heard gravelly or just cracking snow. Like wed gone off the side of the road. And i was like, wow, whats going to happen here . Are they taking me out in the woods . Theyre going to put a bullet in my head . One of them got out of the suv. Matt says he heard another car start up. Suddenly there was movement in his vehicle and they were back on the road. He was relieved to eventually find himself back home. Then according to matt the kidnappers asked him an odd question. Sat me on the couch and asked me if i wanted to take a shower. A shower . Shower. After all of this . After all that. So i said sure, ill take a shower. A shower . After terrorizing him for three hours, how strange. What was going on . And then matts story took another bizarre turn. He says he was led into the kitchen, where something was waiting for him on a table. They said do you know what this is . And i said no. And they said this is c4 explosive. Were going to make an explosive device and were going to strap it to you because we dont trust you that youre going to do what youre told. C4, a plastic explosive used by the military and terrorists. It can be molded like clay into any shape and debtnated remotely. Hearing what was happening in the other room, matts mom began to cry. And then i could hear them unwrapping duct tape, lots and lots. I could hear the unwrapping. And that must have been when they were strapping it around him. And i began to cry harder. And really panicked because as youre laying there im thinking theyre putting a bomb on him. Matt was left alone, a bomb tightly wrapped around his waist. His anxiety was building as each minute seemed the last before eternity. It was just before daylight. Matts mom says one of the men came back into her room and said something unexpected. One fella came in and said to me, i dont want you to get alarmed, but were going to be using the vacuum. And i thought the vacuum . Vacuum. They came in, and i could hear them vacuuming out in my living room. And then they came in the bedroom and were vacuuming all around the bed and things. Six hours into their ordeal, the sun was soon to rise. The two assailants told matt his workday was beginning and hed soon be leaving to rob his own credit union. And to ensure his cooperation they advised him they were leaving an insurance policy in his moms bedroom. They said were not taking any chances, were going to put a bomb under her bed and if you deviate from the plan were going to detonate both of your bombs. Matt says that plan included the threat to detonate his or miz moms bomb by cell phone at any time they wanted. At 10 00 a. M. They would text him the location of where to drop off the money. And to make sure he stayed on time they also attached a timer to his bomb that would automatically explode at 11 00 a. M. That was less than three hours away. And then at some point they came over to me and said, its time. They bring me to my car. At this point they take the blindfold off me. They cut the zip ties off me. So rob the bank well meet you at the dropoff place. Coming up i did exactly what they told me. I called my boss. I said, this is my life. Dont play with it. Dont call the police. But his boss does. As i turned the corner around to the front of the branch, i see all the police cars. Thats when pure panic sets in. A diabolical plan goes off the rails. And the surprises are just getting started. When dateline continues. Whatever happens out there today, remember, you have the hilton app. Can the hilton app help us win . Hey, heywere all winners with the hilton price match guarantee, alright . Man, you guys are adorable alright, lets go find your coach, come on book with the hilton app. Expect better. Expect hilton. Yes. Yes. Yeah sure. Yes yes. Yeah, yeah no problem. Yes. Yes, yes a thousand times yes discover. Accepted at over 95 of places in the u. S. Discover. Its more than just fast. It keeps all your devices running smoothly. With builtin security that protects your kids. No matter what theyre up to. It protects your info. And gives you 24 7 peace of mind. That if its connected, its protected. Even that that petcamera thingy. [ whines ] can your internet do that . Xfinity xfi can because its. Simple, easy, awesome. [ barking ] it was 8 30 a. M. , 8 1 2 hours since the start of connecticut executive matt yussmans nightmare. He was on his way to one of the Branch Offices of his credit union, claiming kidnappers had strapped a plastic explosive to his belly and rigged another device beneath his mothers bed back home where she lay bound. Im driving to the credit union and now for the first time i start to think of, wow, how is this going to play out . Whats going to happen . So wait a second. Are you meant to drive yourself . Is that what youre saying . Yes, they actually wanted me to drive my own car. How are they going to control you . And i figured they were just going to follow me around or watch me the whole time. Two bombs, he said, that could be detonated by the touch of a cell phone. And oh, by the way, a timer on his device that would go off at the stroke of 11 00 a. M. I called my boss. And i said my mother and i are victims of a home invasion. Im currently sitting in my car right now strapped to an explosive device. And im coming to the credit union to empty the vault. You need to empty the branch. Are you using any code words . No. This is real. I said this is my life, dont play with it. And dont notify the police. Dont call the police. Matts boss ignored his plea of no cops. 911, whats your emergency . Ive just received a call a few minutes ago from one of our vps and hes instructing me to vacate our new Britain Branch because theyre going to come and rob it. That 911 call eventually ended up here. Police headquarters in new britain, connecticut where the credit union was located. I was a brand new sergeant. We had just gotten done with roll call in the morning. The phone rang at the main desk of the police department. You know, theres a bank robbery going on. And a guy is driving to the bank right now and he has a bomb strapped to his chest. This is not your usual monday morning, sergeant. Were trying to figure out if it was a joke or not. It was no joke. Sergeant david mikarsky was one of the first out the door. What do you know at that point, sergeant . So the only thing we knew is they gave us a plate on the car. It was a red car. The sergeant had matts license plate number and the model of the red car he was driving. I get to the credit union and i dont see anything. Theres no cars. Im like, fantastic. As i turn the corner around to the front of the branch, thats when pure panic sets in. Now i see all the police cars. The kidnappers told matt not to call the police. And now there they were. Curtains. He now had two hours and 15 minutes until that bomb would explode. Matt eased into a parking spot. I rolled down my window, and theyre all screaming get out of the car, get out of the car. He gets out of the car. We get out of our cars. And there was like a good 15 seconds of silence. Him looking at us and us looking at him and trying to figure out what was going on. Mikarskys partner drew his gun, aiming straight at matt. And i said im wearing an explosive device. And they were like show us. So i lift up my shirt, show them what i was wearing. Were like holy cow, i cant believe this is real. You were persuaded something was there, huh . Oh, 100 . Because it was a frigid 9 degrees out that february morning, the sergeant told matt to get back in his car. Then he and his partner protectively stayed about 100 feet away. Jim wardwell was at that time new britains chief of police. Overseeing a force of 165 officers for the 73,000 people who live in the central connecticut city. Word of this extraordinary crime immediately ran up the ranks, and the chief along with his top command staff rushed to the credit union. What do you do to secure the area . Immediate response. Pretty much all available personnel were sent to the area. We cleared buildings in the areas. We put schools on lockdown. They closed off the surrounding streets and shut down a major thoroughfare. S. W. A. T. Teams and heavy equipment rolled in. And the states bomb squad was called to get the device off of matt. Shutting down an interstate is not a small decision. Calling in other agencies to assist is not a small decision. And all those decisions had to be made and they were made very, very quickly. Back at the Credit Union Parking lot sergeant mikarsky, a member of the crisis negotiation team, became the point man to communicate with matt. The sergeant gave his cell number to yussman and they started to talk over the phone. So whats the demeanor of this man who says hes got a bomb on him . Even keeled. He was very calm for the situation. At least for now. Members of the state Police Bomb Squad. Traveling for different parts of the state. But precious time was melting away. Then at 10 00 a. M. The kidnappers started texting. They wanted their money. One hour to go until the bomb was supposed to explode. Coming up i said to the police what do you want me to tell them . Matt needed answers. And he didnt have much time to get them. Your mind starts to think about weird things like am i going to know it when it goes off . What are you going to feel . When dateline continues. N s in each cubic yard of air. No wonder you rub your eyes hundreds of times a day. But now, relief is just one drop away. Introducing pataday® full prescription strength pataday works right in your eyes. Right on the cells that make them itch. Fast. Just one drop, once a day means relief that lasts all day. So turn your day, into a pataday. Now get pataday without a presc