Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old Tennessee grandmother, is suing Fargo and its police department, alleging that an unverified facial recognition match led to her arrest and nearly six months in custody over North Dakota bank thefts. The case raises concerns about police treating AI-generated matches as proof, particularly when other evidence may point away from a suspect.

The lawsuit says Fargo police used Clearview AI to compare a photo from a fraudulent ID with images of Lipps, then relied on the match without independent corroboration. Lipps was arrested in July 2025, held on a $100,000 bond and charged with eight felonies; prosecutors dropped the charges in December after bank records placed her in Tennessee during the thefts. The complaint also alleges investigators overlooked differences between Lipps and the suspect and failed to check relevant records, while Fargo officials later acknowledged investigative errors.