FBI raids office of forensic psychiatrist

Search warrant served at University Boulevard office

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – FBI agents raided the office of a forensic psychiatrist Wednesday morning on Jacksonville's Southside.

The agents were conducting a search warrant at 4131 University Blvd., which is the offices of Dr. Nikhil Nihalani.

An FBI spokeswoman said the agents will likely be at the scene for the rest of the day. She said the case is still under investigation and the reason for the raid could not be released.

A patient who showed up for an appointment Wednesday to find the office closed said the agents wouldn't tell him anything, either.

"I just saw the DEA in there and that's about it," he said.

The patient said he went to the office to get his medications refilled and now he will have to go to the emergency room.

News4Jax learned that Nihalani, 43, was arrested last year for violating a domestic violence injunction obtained by a woman who appears to have been his ex-girlfriend. She wrote in the injunction that he held her hostage in a house, and made her watch while he sliced himself with a knife and yelled at her that she was responsible for his violence.

In the court document, she claimed he then started punching holes in the bathroom wall within inches of his face. She managed to escape the house, and walked nine miles to a friend’s house, where she stayed hidden for several weeks. She said he then hired a private investigator to find her.

The Florida Department of Health shows Nihalani has an active license with no public complaints or discipline.

"I cannot say whether or not the department receives a complaint or plans to take action against any practitioner until 10 days after probable cause is found," said Brad Dalton, deputy press secretary for the Florida Department of Health. "If the department receives a complaint and it rises to the level of probable cause being found, then I can provide that information. However, if the department receives a complaint and does not find sufficient information (probable cause) to further investigate the complaint, then the complaint would never be public record."

There's no reason to believe Nihalani's previous arrest has anything to do with the raid.