Grandmother says she was wrongfully put in jail for a crime due to a facial recognition error

WEST FARGO, N.D. (KVLY/Gray News) - A woman from Tennessee says she spent months in jail after North Dakota police mistakenly used facial recognition software to identify her as a suspect in a bank fraud case.

Angela Lipps, 50, said U.S. marshals arrested her at gunpoint on July 14, 2025, while she was babysitting four children.

She said investigators used an AI facial recognition software to match her to surveillance footage from a bank fraud case.

At the time of her arrest, police had been investigating a string of fraud cases between April and May 2025 involving a suspect who used a fake U.S. Army military ID card to withdraw thousands of dollars.

According to a GoFundMe, police ran the surveillance footage through facial recognition software and determined she was the suspect. She said a detective then reviewed her driver’s license and social media and confirmed she was indeed the suspect.

Lipps sat in jail in Tennessee for four months without bail and was unable to plead her case until she could be taken to North Dakota. Once in North Dakota, she finally retained a lawyer and was interviewed by police for the first time on Dec. 19.

After her attorney pulled bank records showing she was in Tennessee at the time of the alleged crimes, the charges were dismissed on Christmas Eve.

However, the grandmother said she was given no expenses from the police to help her return home and relied on funds from defense attorneys to get a hotel and eventually find transportation back to Tennessee.

Due to the incident, the 50-year-old said she has lost everything, including her home, car, and dog. She also missed multiple holidays with her grandchildren.

A fundraising page has been created to help her during this time.