By Michael T. Baldwin
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Pettit Rieman and the New York State Police announced the arrest of Terry Gaylor Jr., for allegedly stealing over $116,000 from the City of Olean Fire Department (COFD). Gaylor Jr., a former trustee and current firefighter with COFD, was arrested after a joint investigation by the Comptroller, District Attorney and State Police.
“Gaylor Jr. betrayed his duty to his community by allegedly stealing funds meant to protect the citizens of Olean to fund his personal business and lifestyle,” DiNapoli said. “Now, thanks to my partnership with District Attorney Rieman and the New York State Police, he will face the consequences for his actions.”
Gaylor Jr., 41, of Olean, was charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, two counts of Forgery in the Second Degree and Official Misconduct in Cattaraugus Court. Gaylor Jr. is accused of paying his personal credit card bills directly from the fire department’s account and writing unauthorized checks to himself. Gaylor Jr. allegedly used more than $50,000 of the funds to pay his personal credit card, most of which funded his private HVAC business, Amazon purchases and payments to Verizon Wireless. He also wrote over $65,000 in checks to himself from COFD accounts. Many of the checks also contained forged signatures. Gaylor Jr. allegedly deposited these checks into his personal account, which he then used to withdraw cash and pay for personal expenses.
Gaylor Jr. is due back in court on February 14.
