Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. A public street. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. Somewhere in Miami. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. In Episode 12, of Season 5, "The Big One". Jordan Chase has kidnapped Lumen, and Dexter is desperate to find out where he has taken her. While Dexter is at the Liddy crime scene, at the fuel docks, he gets a phone call and learns that Chase has taken Lumen to an old summer camp. Desperate to rescue her, Dexter steals a car. In a very short scene, we see him pick up a large rock and smash the car window. Then he starts the car, backs up, and roars off down the road. Q. What is it actually in real life? A. A public street. Q. Where can I find it in real life? A. This short scene was shot on Loynes Drive, in Long Beach, CA. To be more precise, it was filmed on Loynes Drive, east of Pacific Coast Highway, across from Palo Verde Ave (the end of  E. Vista). There's a bridge on there, where Loynes crosses the Cerritos Channel (that is the railing you see in the top screencap above).

The red car was parked on the south side of that bridge, when Dexter breaks in.

He then drives west on Loynes as he speeds away.

The striped barrier you see on the left, in the fourth screencap above, is located directly across the street (east of) the entrance to Palo Verde Ave (E. Vista), the street where they filmed the scene of Chase silencing Lumen.
While they were on Loynes Drive, they also filmed the scenes of Chase talking to Dexter on the phone while driving, and the scenes involving the fruit vendor.



[ A word of warning: In the real world, you aren't allowed to park on that channel bridge (especially heading in, as the scene has the cars parked). In fact, there are "no parking" & "no stopping" signs lining most of Loynes Drive in this area. ]




I shot the photos below in December 2010:




The striped traffic barrier, seen in my photo above, is the same one seen in the screencap below.




Below is a wider shot I took of the same street, Loynes Drive:
(The car he steals was parked against the bridge railing seen on the left.).




And here is a very wide shot, taken from the bridge.
(click on it for a larger version)






Here is an aerial photo of the road. And here is a map link.

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  In previous seasons, I've usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes, using clues from the various scenes.  By the 5th season, though, I'd developed a small group of fans, spies & tipsters who kept an eye out for Dexter filming in their neighborhoods, and would let me know in advance when something was about to film there.

Between those reports, and my own personal reconnaissance around town, by the time the first episode aired, I already knew most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only needed to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct locations.

This group of helpful fans includes Kerry, Rick, Joel, Geoff, Ellen, Julie, Susan, Jeff, and others. My thanks to all of them.

I had heard from Rick that they were filming on Loynes. After the scene aired, Colleen reported that the car was parked on the bridge, facing the channel and the wetlands. Google StreetView confirmed that, then I followed that up with a visit in person to the spot, to shoot some photos.  (Thanks Rick & Colleen!)