LI Couple Charged With Harassment After LIRR Incident: MTA

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Long Island man and woman have been charged in connection with a harassment incident that took place on a Long Island Rail Road train at Penn Station on Jan. 10, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Justin Likerman, 37, of Ronkonkoma and Kristin Digesaro, 39, of Huntington have been charged with second-degree aggravated harassment and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors, in collaboration with the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the Hate Crimes Unit, the agency said.

A spokeswoman from the Manhattan DA's office said that she was prevented from commenting on the charges until after Likerman and Digesaro are arraigned.

Elizabeth Edelkind and her family are pressing charges against the couple, saying they racially assaulted them as they rode the LIRR en route to a professional basketball game, News 12 reported. Edelkind says she was called racial slurs and her family had beer thrown on them, according to the outlet.

In a video posted to Twitter, a man could be heard telling someone, "Don't f---ing look at me," and "I'm going to get arrested tonight." Then someone told him it was not worth getting arrested over, and he replied, "I know it's not worth it, but these f---ing foreigners ain't taking over my f---ing country."

Likerman and Digesaro turned themselves in to MTA police at Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday afternoon, according to the MTA.

The pair were let go from Empire Toyota of Huntington after an investigation found they were tied to the incident.

"Empire Toyota ownership and management were outraged by the event involving two of its employees this past Monday night on the Long Island Rail Road," the dealership wrote on Facebook on Thursday. "The two employees were suspended when we first heard about this incident, and, as our investigation just concluded, they have been terminated."

"The heart and soul of our labor force is extremely diverse and we value our employees beyond description," the post continued. "Further, our company's deep support — financial and in-kind — of Long Island's diverse communities is a matter of public record. We can say without hesitation that whatever occurred on that LIRR train is in no way reflective of our company, its ownership, its management team, nor its employees."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Michael DeSantis contributed additional reporting to this story.