Woman sues city, detective for $10 million over wrongful arrest tied to facial recognition error

FARGO, N.D. (KVLY/Gray News) - A woman is suing for millions of dollars, alleging that a flawed facial recognition match led to her facing bank fraud charges that were later dropped.

Angela Lipps, of Elizabethton, Tennessee, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in North Dakota against the city of Fargo and Fargo Police Department detective Lucas Heck.

Lipps was arrested in July 2025 after facial recognition software used by West Fargo police and a North Dakota intelligence center flagged her as a possible match to a suspect in a series of bank fraud incidents in the Fargo area.

According to the lawsuit, a woman used stolen identities and false identification to fraudulently obtain money from several banks in April and May 2025.

Fargo police investigated the thefts, and Heck received facial recognition results from a West Fargo police analyst and North Dakota’s state intelligence center suggesting Lipps was a possible lead.

The lawsuit alleges Heck moved forward with charges despite knowing Lipps lived in Tennessee, had never been to North Dakota, didn’t match the physical description of the suspect on surveillance video, and had no unexplained funds connecting her to the thefts.

The complaint said Heck failed to disclose that the facial recognition result was actually based on a photo from the suspect’s fake identification card, not the surveillance footage, and that facial recognition results were meant to be treated only as investigative leads requiring independent corroboration, not positive identification.

According to the lawsuit, West Fargo police noted that they did not believe the facial recognition results were strong enough on their own to bring charges.

Authorities ended up charging Lipps with eight felonies related to the bank fraud, the most serious of which carries up to 10 years in prison, according to the complaint.

A nationwide warrant was also issued for her arrest.

The lawsuit states that Lipps was arrested at gunpoint at a neighbor’s home in Tennessee by a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force while she was babysitting.

Lipps was allegedly held in a Tennessee jail before being extradited to North Dakota and detained at the Cass County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

The lawsuit claims Lipps remained in custody through Thanksgiving and her 50th birthday, and that jail staff denied her access to her dentures and medication for extended periods.

Prosecutors ultimately dismissed the charges on Dec. 24, 2025, after, according to the complaint, Lipps’ attorney produced bank records showing she was in Tennessee at the time of the reported thefts.

Lipps said she was released from custody with just four cents on her and no winter coat, in temperatures near 10 degrees while relying on an area nonprofit and a neighbor to get home to Tennessee.

The lawsuit accuses the Fargo Police Department of having no policy, training, or supervision governing officers’ use of facial recognition technology at the time, unlike the West Fargo Police Department, which restricts the tool to specially trained officers and prohibits arrests based solely on a facial recognition match.

Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski said in a March press conference, before resigning later that month, that the department made “investigative errors” but that the department implemented new facial recognition policies and training.

The lawsuit brings five claims, including unlawful seizure and arrest, due process violations, a civil rights claim against the city over its policies and training, false arrest and imprisonment, and malicious prosecution.

Lipps is seeking $10 million in damages, along with punitive damages against Heck and attorneys’ fees, and has requested a jury trial.

These are allegations contained in a civil complaint. Those named in the complaint did not immediately respond to the accusations.