Hes just hit a third vehicle. How did the gunmen 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 mouseclick away. A threat. Reporter its a beautiful september day in the western mountains of the 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 to the shoulder. 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, takes off its drivers side mirror, goes flying off. And you see his ominous brake lights go on. And, then, you see him ram the side. Hes hitting vehicles. Hes just hit a third vehicle. Stop. Reporter our story begins in 2015 with 46year old matt yussman, a chief Financial Officer of a credit union in central connecticut. Ive been playing hockey for 30something years. Play every week, sometimes twice a week, all summer long, all winter long. Reporter 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 youd do that night . We won our game. Which was a good thing but it was a late night game. Reporter matts glow from a nice victory that february 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. Reporter matts 70 year old mother valerie, 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 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 sticks the gun right behind the back of my ear, presses it against my head, and says, lie facefirst on the ground. You heard him. Hed arrived home. Yes. Yes. And i was waiting for him to come into the house. And he wasnt comin in. As im being ziptied, i look up and i see another guy running down the driveway. Reporter matt says the gunmen were covered head to toe in multilayers of heavy clothing and ski masks. Their faces hidden by dark goggles. Based on matts recollection, we created these images of those men. Could you have made out their faces . Aw, no. There was they had no distinguishing things that i could see. Did you even know what race they were . Everything was covered. Reporter 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. And 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. Reporter mother and son quickly realized they were the victims of a home invasion. Neighbors couldnt see what was happening because their ranch home is set far back from the road on an isolated culdesac. I guess youre thinking this is gonna play out, hopefully, in the garage. That was and well get past this thing. That that was my whole thing was, you know what . Take what you need. Leave me. Go. And i thought this was going to be the end of it. But it moves into the house. But it moves into the house. Reporter 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. Reporter why didnt they just grab some valuables and leave . He could never have guessed what their villainous plan for him really was. This was much more than just a home invasion. When we come back. The gunmen say they have a problem. And matt yussman is the solution. They said we owe some very bad people a lot of money, and youre gonna 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 gonna make an explosive device and were gonna strap it to you. And matts mom, she was in danger, too. Were going to put a bomb under her bed and if you deviate from the plan were going to detonate both of your bombs. E go detonate both of your bombs. Protect your pet with the 1 name in flea and tick protection. Frontline plus. Trusted by vets for nearly 20 years. If there was a place that kept you. Frontline plus. Vibrant outdoorsy mischevious restored zen sparkly cheeky. clears throat disciplined dapper prepped smart hopeful brave and safe . Well, there is, and always has been. Walgreens. Everyones place, for healthy and safe. Whove got their eczema under control. With less eczema, you can show more skin. So roll up those sleeves. And help heal your skin from within with dupixent. 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They were putting on some headphones on him. I heard them say that. And theyd 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 thing they said to me was, this is not a robbery. This is not a typical home invasion. Reporter by using a device like this, the kidnappers could disguise their voices. This is not yeah, that reporter about a home invasion. This that just gave me the creeps there. cause that sounds very similar to what they did. Reporter 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 gonna get it for us. Reporter how much money . It was very specific. They said to me, we want 4. 2 million in cash. Reporter 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, that i had my mother in the house. Reporter matt, the cfo of achieve Financial Credit Union was told the next morning. He would go to one of his branches and take 4. 2 Million Dollars 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, oooh, a Million Dollars. Reporter hours passed, matt says he sat on that couch, tied up and blindfolded, wondering what 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 goin for a ride. That was the second time i got really scared. Because now im, like, theyre taking me away from the house. Reporter thats a line outta the bad movies, were yeah. Reporter gonna take you for a ride. Right. Right. Reporter right . 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 s wrapped my feet with duct tape to the bottom of my bed. And they said, just a precaution. So that i wouldnt go any place while they went away. And i said, i will stay wherever you put me. I didnt dare try to get out of the bindings. Reporter 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 backseat 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. We drove for maybe 15 minutes. We parked. And i heard gravely or just cracking snow like wed gone off side of the road. And i was, like, wow, whats gonna happen here . Are they taking me out in the woods . Theyre gonna shoo put put a bullet in my head. Reporter 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. Set me on the couch and asked me if i wanted to take a shower. Reporter shower . A shower. Reporter after all of this . And after all that, i said, sure, ill take a shower. Reporter a shower after terrorizing him for three hours . How strange. What was going on . And then matts story took another bizzare 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 gonna make an explosive device. And were gonna strap it to you. Because we dont trust you, that youre gonna do what youre told. Reporter c4, a plastic explosive used by the military and terrorists. It can be molded like clay into any shape and detonated 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 that unwrapping. And that mustve been when they were strapping it around him. And i began to cry harder and really panic because as youre laying there and im thinkin, theyre puttin a bomb on him. Reporter 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 gonna be usin the vacuum. And i thought, what, vacuum . Reporter your vacuum cleaner. They come in and they 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. Reporter 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 insure his cooperation, they advised him they were leaving an insurance policy in his moms bedroom. They said, were not taking any chances. Were gonna put a bomb under her bed. And if you deviate from the plan, were gonna detonate both of your bombs. Reporter matt says that plan included the threat to detonate his or his 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 zipties off me. Reporter so, rob the bank. Rob the bank. Well meet you at the drop off place. Reporter coming up i did exactly what they told me. I call my boss. I said, this is my life. Dont play with it. Dont call the police. But his boss does. As i turn 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. Gettind when dateline continues. It was 8 30 a. M. Eight and half 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. Hows this gonna play out . Whats gonna happen . Reporter wait a second. Are are you meant to drive yourself . Is that what youre saying . Yes. They actually wanted me to drive my own car. Reporter how are they gonna control you . And thats i figure they were just gonna follow me around and watch me the whole time. Two bombs, he said, that could be detonated by the touch of a cellphone, and oh, by the way, a timer on his device that would go off at the stroke of 11 00 a. M. I call my boss. And i said, my mother and i have 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 evacuate the branch. Reporter are you using any code words or any nope. Reporter signs . This is real. I said, this is my life. Dont play with it. Reporter and, dont notify the police. And i said, dont call the police. Reporter matts boss ignored his plea of no cops. 911, whats your emergency . I 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 at the police department. 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. Reporter this is not your usual monday morning, sergeant. You know were tryin to figure out if it was a joke or not. It was no joke. Sergeant David Mocarsky was one of the first out the door. Reporter what do you know at that point, sergeant . So, the only thing that 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, no and 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 there they were. Curtains. He now had two hours and 15 minutes until that bomb would explode. Matt eased into a parking spot. I roll down my window. And theyre all screaming, get outta the car get outta the car he gets out of the car. We get out of our cars. And there was like, a good 15 seconds of silence. You know him looking at us looking at him. And trying to figure out what was going on. Mocarskys partner drew his gun aiming straight at matt. And i said, im wearing an explosive device. And theyre, 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. Reporter you were persuaded something was there. Oh, 100 . Because it was a frigid ninedegrees 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 this 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. Reporter what do you do to secure the area . Oh, immediate response. Pretty much all available personnel were sent to the area. We cleared buildings in the area. We put schools in lock down. They closed off the surrounding streets and shut down a nearby 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, sgt. Mocarsky, a member of the crisis negotiation team, became the point man to communicate with matt. The sergeant yelled his cell number to yussman and they started to talk over the phone. Reporter so, whats the demeanor of this man who says he got a bomb on him . Even keeled. You know, he was very calm for the situation. At least for now, members of the state Police Bomb Squad meanwhile were scrambling, travelling in from 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 say to the police, im, like, what do you want me to