Tennessee Woman Sues Fargo Police Over Wrongful AI-Driven Arrest
Angela Lipps sued the City of Fargo and a police detective after being wrongfully arrested and jailed for six months based on a facial recognition error that misidentified her as a suspect in a North Dakota bank fraud case. She alleges wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution, and civil rights violations, claiming the police ignored known flaws in the AI tool.
What happened
Angela Lipps, 50, was arrested on July 14, 2025, in Tennessee based on a warrant issued by Fargo Police over a fake IDs and bank theft case in North Dakota. The arrest was made by about a dozen law enforcement officers while she was babysitting her neighbor's children.
Fargo police used facial recognition software that wrongly matched Lipps to the suspect in a bank fraud probe. Lipps was charged with eight felonies related to bank fraud and held in custody in Tennessee and North Dakota for six months before being released on December 24, 2025.
Reported impact
Lipps claims she was denied medications and dentures while jailed. She was released on Christmas Eve in North Dakota with no way to get home to Tennessee, and subsequently lost her residence, car, and personal property.
Bank records later showed Lipps was in Tennessee during the times the crimes were committed. A West Fargo investigator had also reviewed her as a potential suspect but declined to issue a warrant.
Index analysis
Former Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski stated in March 2026 that detectives assumed wrongly that surveillance photos had been submitted along with fake ID photos. Zibolski acknowledged that the photo on a fake ID does not necessarily indicate the person is in that ID.
Fargo police later acknowledged errors in the investigation that led to Lipps being identified as a potential suspect through facial recognition. Lipps states she had never been to North Dakota prior to her arrest and looks nothing like the actual culprit.
Governance controls
The warrant was issued after a State's Attorney reviewed the investigation and determined probable cause, and a judge reviewed it for probable cause before authorizing the warrant and extradition.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.