Connecticut credit union manager found wearing suspected bomb vest

[February 24, 2015]  By Richard Weizel
 
 MILFORD, Conn. (Reuters) - A Connecticut credit union executive was found in a car outside his office on Monday with a bomb-like device strapped to his body following the burglary of his home in what appeared to be an aborted scheme to rob the financial institution, police said.

Matthew Yussman, the chief financial officer and manager of Achieve Financial Credit Union in the town of New Britain, was taken away from the scene, handcuffed as a precaution, in an ambulance after bomb-squad technicians removed the suspected explosive device he was wearing, police said.

New Britain Police Chief James Wardwell said investigators were seeking three suspects in connection with the invasion of Yussman's home in the nearby town of Bristol the night before and evidence pointing to a plan to steal money from his credit union.

No one was injured in the incident, he added.

"The threat is over, and now it's a matter for us all to work together ... to apprehend those responsible," the police chief told reporters.

Few other details of the case were provided.

Wardwell later said investigators had yet to determine whether Yussman was a willing participant in the alleged plot or whether he was a victim who was forced into wearing what he thought was an explosive vest.

"Certainly, we're considering all possibilities - whether or not he was coerced, doing something against his will or a suspect," Wardwell said during a late-afternoon news conference.

Bristol police said that a woman believed to be Yussman's mother was at his home in the early morning when police arrived there and was taken in for questioning.

Wardwell said several dozen police officers from New Britain and surrounding towns, as well as state police and FBI agents, were taking part in the investigation.

The device removed from Yussman's body was turned over to the FBI for analysis to determine whether it was a real bomb, and the suspected explosives were destroyed by state police, the chief said.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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