AI matched Tennessee grandmother to bank fraud suspect by her hairstyle and body type — she was 1,200 miles away from the crime scene

When police rely too heavily on technology, a single mistake can turn an innocent person's life upside down. This was the grim reality faced by Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old grandmother from Elizabethton, Tennessee. She was arrested by armed federal agents while babysitting her grandchildren on charges of bank fraud in North Dakota. The twist, however, is that she had never been to that state. What happened next was truly frightening, as reported by NBC News (@NBCNews) on March 31, 2026, in a video that has since gained over 355,000 views.

The AI lead 

The Fargo and West Fargo police departments began investigating a series of bank fraud incidents where a suspect used a fake military ID to withdraw thousands of dollars. To crack the case, investigators forwarded bank surveillance images to Clearview AI, a facial recognition software. Clearview AI identified Lipps as a possible match based on her social media presence, matching her features to the surveillance footage. According to her criminal defense attorney, Jay Greenwood, police reports show zero additional evidence connecting her to the crime.

The wrongful arrest

In July last year, armed federal agents swarmed Lipps' home in Tennessee, where she was babysitting her grandchildren. Based entirely on the AI match, North Dakota authorities had secured a nationwide warrant, wrongly assuming their detectives had already verified the photo ID. So, Lipps, who had never set foot in North Dakota, was arrested on the spot. What's surprising is that despite having little to no evidence, the authorities moved ahead, even skipping the critical step of interviewing her before putting her in cuffs. 

Months in custody

All of a sudden, the 50-year-old found herself thousands of miles away from her family inside a North Dakota Jail. She spent more than five months in there. "It was the first time I had ever been on an airplane," she wrote in her GoFundMe. Recalling the horrifying walk through the airport, the grandmother of five said, "I was terrified and exhausted and humiliated." As she sat behind bars, the system moved slowly. So much so that the Fargo police later admitted that they didn't even learn that she was in custody until December. 

Alibi and freedom

The turning point for Lipps finally came when Greenwood requested simple bank records from her family covering the time of the fraud. The statements cleanly proved she was buying items and living her normal life in Tennessee when the crimes occurred. Following a belated interview in December, prosecutors officially dismissed the charges. Fargo police Chief Dave Zibolski stated that the authorities had identified a "couple of errors" in the investigation process that led Lipps to be identified as a potential suspect.  

At the same time, he noted that Fargo police, moving forward, will not be using any information from West Fargo's AI system because they don't know how it's run or overseen. Meanwhile, Lipps' attorney even appreciated the police department's effort toward correcting their mistake in the future, but couldn't help but point out the lack of basic investigation in his client's case, as he hopes to get her justice for what happened to her. 

Increase in wrongful arrests due to AI

Unfortunately, Lipps isn't the only victim of being wrongfully accused by AI, with reports suggesting an influx in arrests like these. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), at least13 other known cases have occurred throughout the country in the past few years. Yet 46% of Americans believe that using facial recognition technology to identify potential threats would be a good idea, according to Pew Research. Meanwhile, a striking 74% of people think that the use of this technology would help solve crimes more quickly and efficiently. 

'So casual admissions from the police chief'

That said, people in the comments were furious regarding the entire incident involving Lipp. @simontex33 wrote, "Police need to start being charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment when they make this type of arrest. Hold the police accountable." Meanwhile, @Lizhall2961 commented, "Sue them. They should pay for lawyers and her time in jail. So casual admissions from the police chief. Shame on him."

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