Fort Myers Man Sues Jacksonville Beach Police Over AI Facial Recognition Arrest
Commercial crabber claims AI facial recognition led to wrongful arrest for crime in city he’d never visited, sparking federal lawsuit.
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FLORIDA — A Fort Myers commercial crabber and the ACLU of Florida filed a federal lawsuit against Jacksonville Beach police and two sheriff’s offices, claiming artificial intelligence facial recognition technology led to his wrongful arrest for a child luring case that was later dropped.
Robert Dillon filed the 66-page lawsuit Wednesday against the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, alleging he was arrested “for a crime he never committed in a city he’d never been to,” according to the ACLU.
AI Technology Identified Wrong Suspect
The case stems from a 2023 investigation into alleged child luring at a McDonald’s restaurant in Jacksonville Beach, approximately five hours from Dillon’s Fort Myers home. Law enforcement used security camera footage in facial recognition technology operated by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, which compared images to millions of photos in a database.
The system returned a 93% match to a photograph of Dillon. Witnesses later selected Dillon’s picture from a lineup after the technology flagged him as a suspect, according to the lawsuit.
“The night I spent in jail after they arrested me for a crime I did not commit still haunts me to this day,” Dillon said in a news release. “I will never get over how terrified and worried I was, wondering if I’d ever go home to my wife and daughter again.”
Eight-Month Delay Between Investigation and Arrest
The 2023 investigation centered on the belief that the suspect was a regular customer at the Jacksonville Beach McDonald’s location. Dillon was arrested eight months after the initial facial recognition match, according to court documents.
“Over a year later, I’m still picking up the pieces of my life, all because the police relied on this dangerous technology instead of doing their jobs and actually investigating,” Dillon stated. “Florida police must implement safeguards and ensure this never happens to anyone else, because until they do, nobody is safe.”
Lawsuit Seeks Multiple Damages
The federal lawsuit seeks compensation for Dillon’s pain, suffering, humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress, anxiety, and loss of enjoyment of life. The complaint also requests coverage of bond costs, defense attorney fees, legal costs for the current case, and lost income.
The ACLU characterized the incident as relying too heavily on what they termed a “faulty facial recognition match.” All charges against Dillon have since been dropped.
The case raises questions about law enforcement’s use of artificial intelligence technology in criminal investigations and the safeguards needed to prevent wrongful arrests based on algorithmic matches.
