North Fayette Township Mother Kicks Son Living in Motorhome Off Property as Fines Pile Up

Now, Evans has the RV at an undisclosed location as he awaits his January 30th court date for the related charges.

By Bobby Harr

If you've ever traveled through North Fayette township, there's a good chance you've seen a motorhome decked out with signs on the side of the road. They may be vulgar, or they may tell you to smile. Because of this, some people know Chase Archer Evans as the 'Robinson sign guy.'

But his life took a turn recently after he was arrested and jailed, and his mother had his motorhome towed off of the property before barricading the area to keep him away.

Evans, a Homeless Advisory Board member, gained notoriety through the nomadic lifestyle of living out of his sign-plastered motorhome off Cliff Mine Road. After moving from Texas, he first set up camp on the family-owned property in April 2021 with the permission of his mother, Brenda Lee Jones.

But she says that was only supposed to be for a short period and came with conditions. "He never asked for money, he never begged, but he liked to shake his signs instead of working," she said.

Jones ultimately wanted Evans to change his life, get a job, and get rid of the motorhome. She says that never happened. Displeased with her son's lifestyle, she finally pulled the plug on his nearly three-year stay after massive fines piled up due to his presence.

According to her, the penalties total $18,000 per day if charged.

Evans is currently facing fifteen summary offenses related to his former living situation. He will face the charges in court on January 30th but says he refuses to pay any fines and may see more jail time. Evans also has an unrelated active warrant for his arrest for failure to respond to a traffic citation.

When Jones won a ruling to evict Evans, a judge ordered him to vacate the premises by June 15th. After filing an appeal, he won, reversing the eviction based on his mother's lack of jurisdiction. Because she is not the estate executor, Evans argued that only his uncle, who refuses to involve himself in the situation, can legally evict him.

The ruling to stop the eviction happened in November during arbitration, where the initial charges that jailed Evans in January stemmed from. He took photos inside the courtroom that ended up on social media, which his mother reported to the sheriff's office, resulting in his arrest.

On November 16th, Allegheny County Sheriffs charged Evans with one count of 'unlawful use of an audio or video device in court.' He failed to attend court in January for the charge, resulting in a few days in jail. "He took pictures in court. It's illegal, you can't do that," said Jones. "We made sure the sheriffs found out about it. They prosecuted him for it. He got arrested last Monday."

He has court on January 25th for the charges and plans to plead guilty.

While Evans was in jail, that's when his mother decided to have the motorhome towed away and place barricades around the area to prevent it from coming back. She says it cost her $1,700 to have a Hazelwood-based company tow the vehicle and an additional $6,500 for thirteen 3800-pound barricades. She has since placed additional barricades at the location.

Despite lacking the jurisdiction to evict Evans after his appeal, Jones says that she had permission from North Fayette Township to have him towed. "When he got arrested, we had permission from North Fayette to tow away the vehicle because it's trespassing on our property, so we had it towed away," she said.

Once Evans was released from jail and discovered the location of the motorhome, he says it cost him $950 to get it back and it was in terrible condition. Now, Evans has the RV at an undisclosed location as he awaits his January 30th court date for the related charges.

Now that his motorhome is off the property, Jones says the township will drop all the fines against her if he does not return. "If we can keep him off the property, they'll drop the violations on us because he's no longer on our property," she said. "As long as he's not there, we should be okay. The problem is he might come back."

Bobby Harr is the founder of Eyes on PGH, a citizen journalism project based in Pittsburgh, PA. Send story tips to bobbyharrpgh@gmail.com.