BEVERLY - Police Chief John Cassola said he has taken another police cruiser off the road "as a precautionary measure" in the wake of Saturday's fatal crash involving another cruiser.

Cassola said in a written statement yesterday that cruiser 905 is now out of service "for the safety of police officers and the general public."

The safety of three Police Department cruisers has been called into question by the crash that killed 61-year-old Bonney Burns on Saturday morning on Cabot Street. Burns was sitting in her parked car outside her apartment building when a cruiser driven by Patrolman Stuart Merry crossed the center line and slammed into her Toyota Camry. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are not saying what caused Merry to veer across the road. But Cassola has said that Merry's cruiser, along with two other 2006 Ford Crown Victoria cruisers, has had a history of incidents with "random acceleration."

Cassola said engineers from the Ford Motor Co. checked the three vehicles and said there were no problems. The cruisers were put back on the road, but then an officer reported that one of the cruisers sped up for no apparent reason in the parking lot at Shore Country Day School.

Cassola said that cruiser was taken off the road last month. Ford sent engineers from Detroit to examine the cruiser at the city's motor pool, according to Cassola, and the city is waiting for their report.

Cassola said his decision to remove the third cruiser from the road "should not be construed that random acceleration has in any way been determined as a cause of this tragic accident."

The accident is being investigated by State Police and the Essex County District Attorney's Office. The damaged cruiser was taken to the State Police barracks in Danvers. Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for the district attorney, said yesterday the investigation is ongoing.

Police have not commented on any other possible reasons for the crash. Police have said that Merry had not been dispatched to a call, but they don't know if he was responding to an incident that he saw.

Merry, 40, was taken to Beverly Hospital with multiple injuries but is now "fine," according to Cassola.

Cassola refused to release any information documenting the random acceleration problems or the inspection reports by Ford. He has also refused to release the tape of the 911 calls reporting the crash.

"We don't want to give out anything that will hamper the State Police investigation," Cassola said. "It's been a tragic accident. We really feel bad for the victim's family and the officer's family."

12 to 15 incidents

Cassola said police officers have reported 12 to 15 random acceleration incidents with the three cruisers over the last year. Police Lt. Mark Ray has said officers had to stand on the brake or turn off the engine to stop some cruisers.

Mayor Bill Scanlon said the city bought the three cruisers for around $30,000 each in the fall of 2005.

Scanlon also said the decision to take one of the cruisers off the road does not mean mechanical problems caused Saturday's crash.

"I just don't know what the problem is," Scanlon said. "I don't want to speculate until we get information back. State Police are actively investigating. I simply don't know, and I hope people will reserve judgment."

An auto safety expert said Ford vehicles have had more problems with rapid acceleration than any other company. But Clarence Ditlow said the problem is difficult to prove because it now involves the electronics in newer cars, as opposed to cables years ago.

"If a cable was kinked, it was kinked. You could find it," he said. "If it's electronic, you can't. There's no visible forensic evidence such as the broken cable."

Ditlow is the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C., and co-author of a book called "Sudden Acceleration, The Myth of Driver Error." He said there have been complaints about Crown Victorias since 2000, "but this is the first one I've seen on a 2006."

Ditlow said problems with vehicles often show up first in police cruisers because they accumulate so many miles in a short period of time.

"They're sort of like canaries in mines. They're early warners," he said.

A spokesman for the Ford Motor Co. did not return repeated phone calls.

'Dealing with grief'

The lawyer for Bonney Burns said her family is not thinking about any possible lawsuit at the moment. Burns, a Newton native, lived alone in an apartment at 361 Cabot St., where the crash occurred.

"At this stage we are dealing with the family grief," said attorney Richard Osterberg. "We want to put her to rest with her parents. We will then deal with things, knowing the State Police are doing what they are supposed to do."

Osterberg said the State Coroner's Office has not released Burns' body and has not announced an official cause of death. He said a memorial service for Burns will be held at First Baptist Church in Newton, and she will be buried with her parents at Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston. No dates have been set.