Olean firefighter Terry Gaylor Jr. has been charged after allegedly stealing more than $116,000 from the Olean Fire Department (COFD).

Gaylor, a former trustee and current firefighter, was charged after a joint investigation by the state Comptroller, Cattaraugus County District Attorney and New York State Police.

“Gaylor betrayed his duty to his community by allegedly stealing funds meant to protect the citizens of Olean to fund his personal business and lifestyle,” said state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. “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 second-degree grand larceny, two counts of second-degree forgery and official misconduct. 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 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 allegedly wrote more than $65,000 in checks to himself from Olean Fire Department accounts. Many of the checks also contained forged signatures. Gaylor 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 Feb. 14.