City of Reno Now Faces Possible Liability over Mistake AI Based Casino Arrest

“Could legitimately be you have a doppelgänger running around... But they are strikingly similar,” the bodycam from September 17 2023 indicates, with Reno Police officer Richard Jager rambling on.

“It’s not me, f …,” Jason Killinger says, who is ignored. He has his hands handcuffed behind him after being arrested at the Peppermill casino where facial recognition software indicated he was a 100% match for someone who had been trespassed from the property for sleeping inside.

“Weird enough their fancy AI technology that reads faces …” Jager keeps going.

“Can’t figure it out?” Killinger tries to interject.

“No it says it’s a 100% match. But at this point our hands are tied because …” Jager says.

“Wow,” Killinger says in disbelief. He had tried to go to the casino on a break as a long haul UPS driver.

“You know, a reasonable and prudent person would, based off the software, based off the pictures, based off even your driver’s license picture, make the reasonable conclusion that all three are the same person, just two different IDs with two different names,” Jager continues.

Last week, federal judge Miranda Du ruled the city of Reno could be added as a defendant to Killinger’s lawsuit against the police officer for what turned out to be a false facial recognition match.

This decision exposes the city to possible financial liability, with Killinger’s team now able to look into if Reno’s police department relied on facial recognition technology to base arrests off of, as Jager has said occurred many times.

The judge said Jager himself has so called qualified immunity for his arrest actions but that isn’t the case for the city.

Jager is still being pursued for other claims including allegations of excessive force, malicious prosecution and fabrication of evidence. Killinger says he tried to show the officer multiple IDs, a UPS pay stub and his vehicle’s registration in his name. He says he was even accused of colluding with a DMV “friend” to have a fake driver’s license.  

The City of Reno is currently refusing to answer media queries with any details about this ongoing case.

Killinger previously received an undisclosed amount from the Peppermill Casino to settle another lawsuit. He was barred entry from the casino and then detained half a day, during which he says he suffered from shoulder pain and bruises.

He was eventually cleared after he had his fingerprints taken, proving his identity.

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