Family and friends gathered Tuesday for the wake of the police officer who tragically died in a Pelham Bay Park crash last week.

NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill says 28-year-old NYPD Officer Brian Kessler of New Rochelle had recently graduated from the NYPD Academy and joined the Housing Authority in October. He was assigned to Police Service Area 8 in the Bronx.

Officer Kessler had just finished off an overnight shift in Manhattan and was heading home when authorities say he slammed head-on into a city garbage truck on Jan. 16. The crash occurred along Shore Road in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx. He later died at the hospital.

Fellow NYPD officers filed into Westchester Funeral Home in Tuckahoe to pay their respects.

Kessler was engaged and those who worked with him say he was well-liked.

Funeral services are set for Wednesday morning in Tuckahoe.