Funeral services will be held Monday for the Casper police officer killed this week in an Interstate 25 crash.

Kelly Bryce Pebbles' funeral will take place at 10 a.m. Monday at Highland Park Community Church in Casper.

Pebbles, 39, died Wednesday in a crash 6.5 miles north of Wheatland. He was off duty at the time.

He was driving southbound in a Ford F-250 pickup truck when he attempted to pass a tractor-trailer at about 5 p.m. The pickup struck the left front side of the tractor-trailer and skidded off the road, where it struck a tree, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

Pebbles, who wasn't wearing his seat belt, was pronounced dead an hour later at Platte County Memorial Hospital. He had been a Casper police officer since 2001. Prior to that, he had worked as a paramedic for 14 years.

Alcohol is being investigated as a contributing factor to the crash, according to the highway patrol. The patrol received a suspected impaired driver report on Pebbles' truck minutes before the crash. Toxicology test results aren't yet available.

In the wake of the crash, Casper Police Chief Tom Pagel on Friday urged drivers to buckle up and avoid drinking and driving.

"Obviously, police officers aren't immune to bad decisions," he said.

The department, he said, takes driving under the influence seriously. Last year, officers arrested more than 500 people in Casper for that charge, he added.

For Pebbles' complete obituary, see B3.