Facial recognition error lands Tennessee grandmother in jail for months
Mar 12th 2026
Angela Lipps says she was wrongly identified by facial recognition and spent over five months jailed after Fargo police tied her to a bank fraud case, until bank records proved she was 1,200 miles away and charges were dropped.
- Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old Tennessee grandmother, was arrested in July after Fargo police used facial recognition to link her to a bank fraud surveillance video.
- Fargo relied on the software and comparisons to social media and a Tennessee license without ever contacting Lipps before the arrest.
- She was held as a fugitive in Tennessee, then extradited, and spent more than five months in custody before charges were dismissed on December 24.
- Lipps's bank records showed she was in Tennessee during the alleged crimes, which led to her exoneration in court.
- She lost her home, car and dog while jailed, received no apology, and Fargo police did not cover her travel expenses home.
- The Fargo bank fraud probe remains open and no arrests have been announced.