A 44-year-old Grand Prairie woman has been indicted on a federal charge after federal agents say she tried to arrange an armed robbery of the very Golden Chick restaurant where she worked, unknowingly recruiting an undercover ATF agent to help pull it off. Laura Gonzalez was arrested today, before the alleged plot could unfold, and a federal grand jury indicted her last Tuesday on a charge of interfering with commerce by robbery.
According to FOX 4 News, the scheme traces back to last Thursday, when Gonzalez messaged an acquaintance on Facebook Messenger asking for a $500 loan to cover vehicle payments. After being turned down, she allegedly suggested robbing the Golden Chick location instead — not realizing the person she was messaging was cooperating with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. That contact connected Gonzalez with an undercover ATF special agent, and according to court filings cited by the Dallas Express, she communicated with the person she believed could help carry out the robbery between August 3 and August 6.
Prosecutors say Gonzalez identified the Golden Chick at 3051 East Mayfield Road in Grand Prairie as the intended target, per investigators. She allegedly provided employee schedules, a hand-drawn diagram of the restaurant, camera locations, information about the safe and expected cash on hand, and instructions for entering through an unlocked rear door. She also reportedly encouraged the robbery to happen during early morning hours while employees were present, and allegedly discussed using firearms during the robbery.
Insider Video Allegedly Showed the Path to the Safe
On August 6, the same day she was arrested, Gonzalez allegedly recorded and sent video footage from inside the restaurant showing the route to the safe and the location of the digital video recorder that captured security footage, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Investigators say she also planned to be present at the restaurant during the robbery to make the situation look less suspicious, and she was expected to receive between $3,000 and $4,000 of the proceeds. FOX 4 News reported that after the initial digital exchanges, Gonzalez met directly in person with the undercover agent to detail employee counts, safe access procedures, and camera locations before agents made the arrest…