Police are cleared in death of Celtics fan

But Woodman’s parents said that they believe there was a coverup and that their son, who stopped breathing while in custody and died 11 days later, would be alive today if not for his encounter with police.

Former US attorney Donald K. Stern, who spearheaded the three-member commission at the behest of the police commissioner, said there was “a gap of accountability at the scene’’ after Woodman, an Emmanuel College student, was arrested for public drinking on June 18, 2008, and left handcuffed on the ground. Stern said it is unclear whether officers monitored Woodman and estimated that Woodman may have stopped breathing for as long as five minutes before officers discovered he was in distress.

“It is likely that his distress was observed and attended to as soon as it happened,’’ the 19-page report says. “But, it is difficult to demonstrate that with certainty. Thus, we conclude that there was a failure by supervisory personnel to control and manage the arrest scene.’’

Stern, who released the report during a press conference at Boston police headquarters, with Commissioner Edward F. Davis, said other problems included the failure of the arresting officer or anyone else at the scene to write a report. All nine officers who participated in the arrest went to the hospital immediately afterward to be treated for stress.

Despite the mistakes, the report says: “We believe that, by and large, the police officers acted reasonably and in no way anticipated or could have predicted the outcome. Still, things could have been handled differently.’’

A medical examiner concluded that Woodman died of an arrhythmia caused by a preexisting heart condition.

Woodman’s parents, Cathy and Jeffrey Woodman of Southwick, were visibly upset during a press conference at their lawyer’s Boston office.

“I think they’re lying,’’ Cathy Woodman said. “In my opinion . . . those nine officers, the ones who handled him and the ones who witnessed, are to blame for his death.’’

Stern’s panel made nine recommendations to Davis, including enhanced training for officers regarding the monitoring of prisoners after arrest, clear guidelines on handling public drinking during major events, a requirement that arresting officers write reports, and a policy for handling officer stress at scenes.

Davis said he has implemented some recommendations and will adopt others.

“I believe that officers in no way could have foreseen or prevented Mr. Woodman’s death,’’ Davis said. “However, we will learn valuable lessons from this and will apply those lessons moving forward.’’

He said internal affairs investigators found no rules or regulations were violated by the officers involved.

Woodman was walking home to Brookline with four friends and carrying a cup of beer after watching the Celtics game at a bar when they passed the officers at Fenway and Brookline Avenue. One of Woodman’s friends said Woodman remarked, “Wow, it seems like there’s a lot of crime on this corner.’’

The friend said officers slammed Woodman to the ground and ordered his friends to leave the area or face arrest.

Officers said Woodman refused to stop and tossed his cup, splashing officers with beer. They said he clung to a wrought-iron fence and flailed his arms, requiring some five officers to tackle him. He was handcuffed on the ground when police realized he was not breathing, called an ambulance, and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Stern said the officers did some things right and other things wrong.

The report says officers falsely told EMTs who arrived at the scene that Woodman suddenly collapsed while they were talking to him, but concludes it would not have made a difference in his treatment.

The Woodmans accused police of using excessive force and neglecting their son, saying that by the time he arrived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, he had significant brain damage from a lack of oxygen. Woodman, who suffered an arrhythmia while in custody, regained consciousness, then died June 29 after suffering another arrhythmia while hospitalized.

In January, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley concluded that the officers did not use excessive force and were not to blame for Woodman’s death.

Stern’s commission, which focused on police policy and procedure, criticized the investigation of Woodman’s death by the Boston police homicide unit, saying interviews were “surprisingly cursory,’’ officers were not asked to file reports, and “there was no effort to ask probing or even detailed questions.’’

The report says Officer Michael McManus told detectives he noticed blood on his hands following Woodman’s arrest and believed it came from Woodman, yet “his response was cut off and no further questions were asked in relation to that fact.’’

Attorney Howard Friedman, who represents the Woodmans, said Woodman had abrasions or contusions on his face and arm, a cut under his chin, and a blunt force injury to his buttock.

“We feel that there was a coverup,’’ said Friedman.

The Woodmans said they feel that justice has eluded them.

“Nothing could make us happy, because we’ve lost our son,’’ Cathy Woodman said. “It’s hard for us to hear, ‘It was just a kid with a heart problem; everybody did the right thing.’ ’’