Share and Follow
In a troubling case of mistaken identity, a woman from Tennessee found herself behind bars for five months due to a facial recognition error. The technology connected her to a string of bank fraud incidents in North Dakota, despite her innocence.
The ordeal began last July when Angela Lipps, 50, was arrested in Tennessee by U.S. Marshals. She was shocked to learn that she was being accused of being a fugitive involved in unauthorized use of personal identifying information in North Dakota, according to a report by WDAY. Lipps, who had no connections to North Dakota, insisted on her innocence but was held in a Tennessee jail for four months awaiting extradition.
It wasn’t until late October that Lipps was finally extradited. However, it took until late December for her to get the opportunity to plead her case in front of North Dakota authorities and secure legal representation. This significant delay in the judicial process contributed to her prolonged incarceration.
The confusion began months earlier when detectives in Fargo were in the midst of investigating several bank fraud cases. A woman had been fraudulently withdrawing tens of thousands of dollars, using an Army identification card as part of her scheme. Authorities turned to facial recognition technology to identify the culprit, which mistakenly linked Lipps to the crimes through her social media profiles and driver’s license photo.
A critical piece of exonerating evidence lay in Lipps’ bank records, which clearly placed her 1,200 miles away from the scene of the crimes at the time they occurred. On Christmas Eve, in a bittersweet twist, all charges against Lipps were finally dropped, closing a distressing chapter in her life.
While Fargo police officials said they only learned in early December that Lipps was in custody, KVLY obtained emails suggesting they knew in July. Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said his department is not responsible, as Fargo police had ample notice of Lipps being in custody.
“I also know there was a booking report that was sent out to their agency that had Ms. Lipps on that particular booking report that was shared with the whole agency so there were a number of ways they were alerted,” he explained.
Despite the mix-up, Lipps said police provided no assistance to get her back to Tennessee. She also said the five-month ordeal resulted in her losing everything, including her home, car, and dog, according to KVLY.
Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski declined to provide further details about the case in a statement issued to People, citing an ongoing investigation.
[Feature Photo: GoFundMe]