A Tennessee woman falsely accused of bank theft in North Dakota is suing the city of Fargo for $10 million, alleging police relied solely on flawed AI facial recognition technology for her arrest. Angela Lipps spent nearly six months in jail before charges were dropped.
The lawsuit highlights concerns about the reliability and oversight of AI facial recognition technology in law enforcement, potentially leading to wrongful arrests and significant personal harm, and seeks accountability for alleged departmental failures.
A Tennessee woman, Angela Lipps, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the city of Fargo, North Dakota, alleging that law enforcement improperly relied on artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition technology to falsely accuse her of bank theft. Lipps was arrested at gunpoint at her home in Tennessee in July 2025 and subsequently jailed for nearly six months. She was held without bail for almost four months before being extradited to North Dakota, where she remained for an additional two months. The charges against her included unauthorized use of personal identifying information and theft. Her attorneys stated that the significant damages sought reflect the specific harm she endured. Lipps, who had never traveled by plane before her arrest, was eventually released on Christmas Eve after her lawyer presented bank records proving her presence in Tennessee at the time of the alleged fraud in Fargo. The lawsuit claims that the Fargo Police Department (FPD) and its agents refused to accept responsibility or apologize, despite requests. It alleges that a west Fargo police investigator used AI facial recognition software, which returned Lipps's social media photo as a lead. The complaint asserts that Detective Lucas Heck, named as a defendant, falsely suggested the system identified Lipps and requested an arrest warrant without sufficient investigation or probable cause. Lipps maintains her arrest and imprisonment were unlawful and malicious, arguing the FPD lacked proper policy, training, and supervision regarding the use of facial recognition technology, which she claims should not be the sole basis for charging or extraditing an individual.