Recent body camera video reveals a man was mistakenly arrested after an artificial intelligence system incorrectly matched his face to someone who was barred from a casino.
A video released by the YouTube channel Explore With Us shows what happened in September 2023 at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, Nevada. It features Jason Killinger, a truck driver, being held and arrested even though he kept showing them who he was.
Court documents show that Killinger was visiting a casino for work when the casino’s facial recognition system mistakenly identified him as someone previously banned. The system flagged him as Michael Ellis, who had been banned for sleeping inside the casino, and reported a “100% match.”
Casino security stopped Killinger, believing him to be Michael Ellis, someone who had been banned from the casino months before. Killinger insisted he was not Ellis and showed his driver’s license, which clearly stated his name as Jason James Killinger. However, the security staff wouldn’t accept the ID and called the police.
According to a lawsuit, Killinger was detained for 11 hours and handcuffed for about four of them. During that time, he experienced bruising and pain in his shoulder.
AI flags innocent man as casino trespasser
Reno Police Officer R. Jager, a new recruit according to court documents, checked Killinger’s paperwork when he arrived. Killinger showed Officer Jager his driver’s license, a pay stub from UPS, and his vehicle registration. Everything matched his identity and physical description.
Despite these issues, Jager alleged that Killinger used fake identification and might have had help from someone at the DMV to create false documents. According to Jager’s police report, Killinger presented inconsistent ID and Jager couldn’t verify his identity with the information provided.
Body camera video shows Officer Jager checking both Killinger’s ID and casino records for Michael Ellis. The officer confirmed that an AI system identified the two men as a near-perfect match – with 99.9% certainty. He then checked police records to see if Killinger was using a fake ID or hiding who he really was.
“I have a feeling he’s somehow making some fake identification or something,” Jager said on camera.
Jager arrested Killinger because he couldn’t figure out a mistake in identification, and took him to jail. Later, fingerprint analysis confirmed Killinger wasn’t the person he was supposed to arrest. However, the video footage shows Jager admitted to his colleagues that he already suspected Killinger was innocent after talking with him – he said he “genuinely kinda believed” Killinger was telling the truth.
Man wrongfully arrested for AI mistake still has criminal record
After his fingerprints were used to confirm who he was, Killinger was released. He’s since reached a settlement with the Peppermill Casino, but he’s still suing Jager.
Killinger’s lawsuit states that Officer Jager violated his constitutional right to a fair legal process. He claims Jager left out important evidence that would have helped his case – specifically, fingerprint results – and wrongly made it seem like Killinger wasn’t cooperating with the investigation. The suit argues that by hiding this evidence, Jager essentially fabricated information.
The documents reveal that once Jason Killinger was identified, his arrest records were updated from “John Doe” to his actual name. This led to him being charged with trespassing, even though only Michael Ellis had actually been banned from the casino. Although the charge was later dropped, Killinger now has a criminal record as a result.
Killinger is requesting financial compensation for damages, including both general losses and potential punishment of the defendant. The exact amount of money being sought hasn’t been revealed. The case is currently scheduled for trial sometime next year.
This situation highlights a growing concern: when police and security companies use artificial intelligence, it can lead to significant problems in the real world.
In early 2025, police with guns surrounded a 16-year-old student near Kenwood High School in Baltimore because an AI system mistakenly identified a bag of Doritos as a gun.
A middle school temporarily went into lockdown a few months ago when its security system mistakenly identified a student with a clarinet as if it were a weapon.
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2025-12-15 19:21