Jeddah sues American city for $10 million
Arabia.net – An American grandmother is seeking $10 million in damages after spending nearly six months behind bars due to a facial recognition technology error that mistakenly linked her to an investigation into a bank fraud case in North Dakota, despite being more than 1,200 miles away from the crime scene.
Angela Lips filed a lawsuit against the City of Fargo and a Fargo Police Department officer, holding them responsible for her arrest and detention, which resulted in the loss of her home, car, and even her dog.
In July 2025, a team of U.S. Marshals arrested the 50-year-old Lips in Tennessee at gunpoint while she was caring for four young children, according to a report published by TechSpot.
Lips was taken to a county jail in Tennessee as a fugitive from justice and a wanted person in North Dakota.
According to case details, the arrest was part of an investigation into bank fraud incidents that occurred in April and May 2025, after investigators reviewed video footage of a woman using a fake U.S. military ID card to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars.
Investigators used a facial recognition program that concluded Lips might be the person appearing in the investigation.
As a result, she was charged with eight criminal counts, the most serious of which carried a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
However, Lips stated that she had never visited North Dakota in her life, a claim later supported by bank records showing she was more than 1,200 miles from the crime scene at the time the offenses occurred.
The lawsuit alleges that jail officials denied Lips access to her dentures and medications for extended periods during her detention.
But her release from prison was not the end of her ordeal.
Lips left the jail with only four cents in her possession and no winter coat, finding herself stranded in Fargo, where temperatures were approaching 10 degrees.
She later relied on a local nonprofit organization and a neighbor to help her return to her home in Tennessee.
