Angela Lipps is suing the City of Fargo for $10 million after AI facial recognition led to her wrongful arrest and six-month imprisonment.
Lipps, 50, was taken into custody at gunpoint last July at her rental home in Tennessee while caring for four children, according to her lawsuit. She was held for months in Carter County before being extradited more than 1,200 miles to Cass County, North Dakota, where she faced eight felony bank fraud charges and a $100,000 bond.
The Tennessee grandmother had never visited Fargo before her arrest, yet a West Fargo Police Department investigator matched her social media photo to a suspect in an ongoing bank theft probe using AI facial recognition. Police cited her “similar features” to the actual perpetrator as the basis for the identification.
“They knew that AI facial recognition technology should not be used as the sole basis to extradite and charge a person,” her complaint states. “Yet they ignored those issues and gave no care to the harm it would do to innocent people like Lipps.”
The charges were dropped only after authorities acknowledged their error. Lipps walked free on Christmas Eve 2025, her attorney Eric Rice told reporters that the $10 million demand “reflects the specific harm” inflicted on his client.
Her release brought no relief. Lipps emerged into freezing temperatures with no transportation back to Tennessee, her lawsuit notes. She soon discovered she had lost her residence, her car, and her remaining possessions during the months she spent behind bars.
The complaint details conditions Lipps endured while incarcerated. “She missed family birthdays. She spent her own birthday incarcerated, separated from her family. She missed holidays with her loved ones, including Thanksgiving and Christmas. While in custody, she was denied basic care, such as her medications and her dentures.”
Her legal filing also describes lasting psychological damage. Lipps “experienced traumatic conditions in the jails” and “struggled with the fear of not knowing when she would be released or whether she would end up wrongly convicted and imprisoned for years.” The lawsuit adds: “Since the incident, she lives in fear that she will be abducted again and has been left with the knowledge that even though she was innocent, she is not safe.”
The suit brings five counts against both the city and the lead detective: Fourth Amendment unlawful seizure and arrest, Fourteenth Amendment due-process violations, a Monell civil-rights claim, false arrest and imprisonment, and malicious prosecution.
Lipps has framed her case as a broader warning about emerging technology in policing. “As AI facial recognition technology becomes more accessible and widespread, Lipps hopes that her case will cause officers to use appropriate care and consider the harm their actions can have on those who are wrongly accused,” her complaint reads.
The City of Fargo declined to address the allegations when approached by news outlets, stating: “The City does not comment on pending litigation.”