A Tennessee woman is pursuing a $10 million lawsuit against the city of Fargo and a local police detective, alleging that flawed AI facial recognition technology led to her wrongful arrest for bank thefts she did not commit.
Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old grandmother of five, was taken into custody in July 2025 while babysitting children outside her home. She was held for approximately six months before being transferred to North Dakota to face charges related to multiple bank thefts in the Fargo area. Her legal team successfully secured her release on Christmas Eve 2025 after presenting bank records that proved she was in Tennessee during the timeframe of the alleged crimes.
The lawsuit identifies Lucas Heck, a Fargo police detective who requested the arrest warrant, and the City of Fargo as defendants. The complaint asserts that authorities disregarded warnings about the unreliability of AI facial recognition as a sole basis for extradition, resulting in what it describes as malicious prosecution and false imprisonment.
According to court documents, an investigator with the West Fargo Police Department utilized AI software to compare a suspect’s social media image against footage from bank theft investigations. The technology flagged Lipps based on a photograph from a fake ID used by the actual suspect in the surveillance video. The complaint notes significant physical discrepancies between Lipps and the individual captured on tape, including differences in build, facial features, and tattoos, as well as the fact that Lipps had never previously visited North Dakota.
Lipps was detained first in Carter County, Tennessee, while issues regarding unrelated probation violations were resolved. She was subsequently extradited to Cass County, North Dakota, where she was held on a $100,000 bond she could not post. During her incarceration, the lawsuit alleges she suffered traumatic conditions, missed major holidays and family milestones, and was denied essential medical care and personal items such as dentures.
Eric Rice, Lipps’ attorney, told ABC Nashville affiliate WKRN that the damages sought reflect the severe personal harm caused by the incident. “Can you imagine being taken away at gunpoint, held in detention, taken from your family?” Rice said.
Former Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski addressed the error in a press briefing last year, acknowledging that detectives “assumed wrongly” that surveillance photos from Fargo bank cases had been included alongside the fake ID image provided by West Fargo authorities. Zibolski emphasized that a fake ID photo does not confirm identity and noted that the Fargo department does not operate its own AI facial recognition system, which has since been prohibited for use in such investigations.
A city spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation. As of now, ABC News has been unable to reach Detective Heck for comment regarding the complaint.
Wait, they ignored obvious physical differences? That’s negligence, not just an AI glitch. What’s next?
Six months for a grandmother? This lawsuit is absolutely justified. Wrongful imprisonment is a grave injustice, period.