Report: Man pockets money from vehicle sale

VERMILION TWP. — Deputies arrested a Sandusky man Friday after he allegedly stole from clients at the car dealership where he worked to help pay for his son's Christmas presents.Joseph Doering, 43, of the 2800 block of Sunset Lane, was charged with theft, a fifth-degree felony.Just before noon, deputies responded to a Chevrolet dealership on Ohio 60 in Vermilion after the manager said Doering, an employee, stole from a client, according to an Erie County sheriff's report.The manager said he'd received a phone call from a couple who claimed they gave Doering a check for $2,500 for a vehicle they purchased, but they never received it.When the buyers went to write the check, Doering told them "leave it blank and I'll stamp it," the report states. They checked with their bank when the vehicle never arrived and discovered the check was allegedly cashed in Doering's name not the dealership.Doering told deputies he heard their commissions were being scaled back and he was scared he wouldn't be able to afford presents for his son, according to the report.The general manager for dealership said Doering's claims about the commissions being reduced were untrue and there had been no changes in the payment scale. Doering was released from the Erie County jail on bond because he couldn't find anyone to watch his son.Doering was previously convicted of felony theft after he pocketed the profit from vehicles he sold at a Sandusky dealership in 2015. He received intervention in lieu of conviction after he pleaded guilty in the Erie County Common Pleas Court.*Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include the comments of the dealership's general manager.More Erie County Sheriff's Office articlesReach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterJOSEPH JAMES DOERING