Lawyer says Tennessee woman spent months in jail, but was never linked in Fargo police investigation

FARGO (KFGO) – A Fargo defense attorney who works as a public defender calls it “unjust.”

Jay Greenwood says he was appointed to represent Angela Lipps, 60, of Tennessee who Fargo police identified as a suspect in an ongoing bank fraud investigation last fall. Greenwood says Lipps, who has no ties to Fargo and had never been to North Dakota, was classified as a suspect in the investigation based on artificial intelligence facial recognition taken from video surveillance.

“They put out a warrant for her arrest based on facial recognition, the Fargo Police Department, doing some kind of cross checking through Facebook, looked to see if she kind of looked the same as the lady in this video and then it kind of ended at that, you know the facial recognition software was used to identify her, they went with it, got a warrant for her arrest and then held her in jail in Tennessee for four months and then she was here (Fargo) for a couple,” Greenwood told Joel Heitkamp on KFGO News and Views.

Using Lipps’ bank records, Greenwood says he was able prove that Lipps should have never been considered a suspect in the fraud investigation.

Greenwood says Fargo police eventually interviewed Lipps, the case was dismissed within a few days and she was released from the Cass County Jail. He says F5 Project founder Adam Martin drove Lipps to Chicago last Christmas where she was met by family. F5 Project provides housing and other assistance to people released from jail and prison.

Late Thursday afternoon, Mayor Tim Mahoney released a statement.

“What I can say is that the issuance of an arrest warrant for Ms. Lipps indicates that a court determined probable cause existed for the charges. While the charges were later dismissed without prejudice, that procedural step simply means the charges may be re-filed if additional investigation supports doing so. The Fargo Police Department continues to actively investigate this matter and continues to follow the criminal justice process.”

“The investigation remains ongoing with respect to all individuals involved. Because the case is still open and active, I am not providing additional comment at this time to avoid compromising the investigation.”

The story was first reported by WDAY Channel 6 reporter Matt Henson.