Local law enforcement was caught off guard the first couple of times Donald E. Webb Jr. was paroled, despite killing an Akron police detective.They don’t want to see it happen a fourth time.Akron police officers and Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh are urging residents to help block Webb’s upcoming parole efforts. He was sentenced to life in prison for the 1975 shooting death of Detective Gary Yost, but has managed to win parole on three occasions.His releases came with little opposition. Yost’s children and local law enforcement say the state never contacted them before Webb was let go the first three occasions.“I think we all assumed, obviously incorrectly, that he would never get out,” said Yost’s oldest daughter, who asked for safety reasons that she not be identified.According to a prison spokeswoman, Webb was first released in 1992, but was returned to custody on a parole violation in 1994. Freed again in 2001, he committed a drug offense and returned to prison the following year.In 2004, Webb was set free again, only to return to prison on identity theft and drug charges in 2008. On March 2, the state parole board will begin deciding whether Webb should be released a fourth time.Brian Niceswanger, a parole board spokesman, said Friday he was unable to say why Webb, now 58, was released on three previous occasions. He said board records show local authorities were first contacted about Webb’s potential release in 2004.He said Webb’s sentence gave him the ability to apply for parole, and he initially served seven years over the minimum.“It’s not set in stone that if you murder a police officer, you’re never going to get out,” Niceswanger said.Webb was on parole after serving about two years for theft charges when he shot and killed Yost on Aug. 23, 1975.A 16-year veteran of the Akron force, Yost was a narcotics unit detective working off-duty as a guard at Shippers Dispatch on Swartz Road in Coventry Township. A Garfield High graduate and U.S. Army veteran, Yost was married and the father of four children, ages 17, 15, 7 and 4.According to evidence at the scene and from trial testimony, Yost was in uniform working at the trucking firm when he heard a noise and went to investigate. He found three men unloading tires from a trailer and ordered them to surrender.Two other men overpowered him from behind, however, and Yost was shot in the back with his own service revolver.Yost, 41, was left in a field and bled to death. His body was found by his wife about 7:30 a.m.Five men were charged in the slaying. Two were acquitted at trial. Two others were convicted, but charges against them were dropped after appeals courts ordered new trials.Webb had implicated the others to escape a possible death sentence. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of murder and was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison, a prison spokesman said.After his parole in November 2001, he was taken back into custody on a parole violation stemming from drug charges in Cuyahoga Falls. At the time, Akron police and Summit County sheriff’s deputies said Webb’s arrest was the first time they learned he had been paroled.Members of Yost’s family said they were unaware of any hearings until 2009, when they collected signatures and successfully opposed his release. Their request for a 10-year extension — until the next parole hearing — was denied. The board continued Webb’s case until this year.Niceswanger said the board had received more than 1,750 letters about Webb’s upcoming parole hearing.“It is frustrating,” Yost’s daughter said. “Just knowing that he even got out three times after serving so little time of what was supposed to be a life sentence.’’Letters opposing or favoring Webb’s release may be sent by Feb. 29 to Ohio Parole Board, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, 770 W. Broad St., Columbus, 43222, or via email to DRC.Victim.Services@odrc.state.oh.us. Letters should include Webb’s name and his inmate number, A563915.Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.